The life before her eyes
by linnybug
Summary: Alice has spent three years in an abusive relationship, until Jasper comes along. But, is he really the knight in shining armor she thinks he is?
1. Chapter 1

**This is a new idea that's been bouncing around in my head awhile. It's an Alice/Jasper story…but, certainly not a typical one.**

**Let me know what you think! **

**APOV**

I don't know how I let this happen.

I just never seem to pick the right guy, and I'm paying for it once again. And, I don't just mean the insane amount of money I'm going to have to shell out for this ambulance ride.

For what seems like the hundredth time in my life, I'm being rushed to the hospital. This time, I've lost a lot of blood—the bulk of which is now probably circling the drain in my bathtub; assuming, of course, the EMTs who dragged my lifeless body out of the tub remembered to unplug the drain.

Or, am I going to have to go back to my apartment and find a tub full of bloody water? That'd be just my luck, having to clean up the mess of my own failed suicide attempt. It would serve me right, wouldn't it?

Now you're all probably wondering, "Alice, what drove you to try and take your own life?"

Well, let me tell you, just five short months ago, I never thought this would happen again. I met a guy who saved me from the asshole who had a vise-grip on me and my life for the past three years. Or, I thought he had saved me.

Let me start at the beginning. I'm Alice Cullen, typical 25-year-old Boulderite, daughter, little sister and friend to all. I'm a graphic designer at a little company my friend Rosalie had started after college. It was me, her and Bella—our other best friend—who created graphics for local ski and snow board manufacturers.

It was an awesome way to make a living, let me tell you. And my parents thought I'd never be able to use my degree in graphic design.

But, I digress; outside of being all of these things, I am also hopeless and unlucky at love. It probably didn't help that I didn't really start to date until I was in college. And then, I mostly just hung out with the guys I dated a few times before our potential romances devolved into simple friendships.

That is, until I met James.

We met during our senior year at CU, and our connection was pretty instantaneous. I fell head over heels for him. I tried to play it cool at first, though, so I didn't seem too desperate.

But, oh my god, that man was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. Blue eyes, short, blond hair and a killer smile. And that body? Don't even get me started. He was trained in krav maga, and had a six-pack that would have made a professional UFC fighter jealous.

It's strange, as I look back on it now, that I never took his incredible strength and fighting ability to be something to worry about. Then again, I never believed I'd have to defend myself against him.

I may be short (just south of five feet), but I'm not a weakling by any means. I used to be a gymnast from the age of six until my junior year of high school, when I decided sports just didn't hold any interest for me anymore. But, even being stronger than a woman my size usually is didn't help me from falling victim to an abusive relationship.

Though the signs were all there, the real, physical abuse didn't start until about a year after we became an item. He had always been jealous of the times I spoke to other guys—even my older brothers, Edward and Emmett. But, it wasn't until the day after Valentines Day, two years ago, that he went from being a jealous man, to a full-on brute.

And, it had all started out innocent enough—on Valentines, he took me to the Flagstaff House and treated me to a very expensive dinner (he always was a typical trust fund hippie), then we went back to his place and shared a beautiful, romantic evening together. I had never felt so loved and cherished in all my life.

The next day, however, I received a cute little Valentine gift from an acquaintance. This guy Mike, whom Rosalie had hired temporarily to do some consulting work, gave me and my friends each a rose tied to a cute, little heart lollipop. It didn't mean anything at all, but far be it for James to have realized that.

He found it in my purse when I was busy making dinner that night. As I stirred some pasta into a pot of boiling water, I felt an object come in contact with the back of my head. The force with which I was pushed forward almost earned me a face full of unbelievably hot liquid.

James took me by the arm and whirled me around to face him.

"What the fuck is that? Who the fuck thinks he is allowed to give you a rose?" His face was about an inch away from mine as he screamed at me. I was so scared of him in that very moment, I didn't even wipe the spittle away after it traveled from his mouth to my cheek.

Once I found my voice again, I gave my feeble explanation. "He's a friend, he made gifts for me, Bella and Rosalie. It was nothing."

"Then why did you keep it?" He asked, becoming more menacing by the second. "Why didn't you just throw it away? Do you think so little of me that you would insult me by flaunting the gifts you get from other guys?"

"Wha-?" I couldn't even get the word out before he slapped me.

He walked away in a huff while I stood there in shock. I somehow managed to finish the dinner and get it out on the table for him. We ate in silence—I was too afraid to even look at him.

Later that night, I silently stalked into bed and just before I drifted off to sleep, I felt a pair of strong arms wrap themselves around me.

"I'm sorry, Ali-baby," he whispered into my ear. "I didn't mean any of that. I'm just upset about something else that happened today, and I shouldn't have taken it out on you. Do you forgive me?"

I nodded wordlessly before he placed a sweet, seeming loving kiss on the back of my neck. I was still lost in a numb, lifeless world when he turned me over and made love to me. I don't even remember if I came that night—not that he would have cared if I had or not.

The day after that incident was the first time I had to use concealer in almost two years. And, it wouldn't be the last time I was forced to cover my skin in disgusting liquid to keep my secret hidden.

The worst beating came about two-and-a-half years into our relationship. James had asked me to move in with him. He reasoned that we had been together for so long—and we were probably headed for marriage anyway—so, why deny the obvious, right?

It took me a full five minutes to work up the courage to say no. Of course, I think I was out for well over five minutes after that. I told him I thought it was a bad idea to live together before we were married, that it could potentially break us up and I didn't want that to happen.

He accused me of wanting to, and I quote, "fuck other guys," and gave me a vicious right hook.

When I came to, he was nowhere to be found. I pulled myself up off the floor and went to take a shower. As I stood under the water and attempted to wash the horrible incident out of my hair, I felt a presence behind me.

He pulled me into his arms and fed me the same line as always—how he never means to hurt me, and how he loves me so much it makes him a little crazy sometimes. I just nodded numbly, once again, and let him take me into his room for some make-up sex. In fact, a part of me believed that was why he treated me so badly, so he could make it up to me later.

It was almost as if he got off more with the make-up sex than any other time we were intimate.

Luckily, this last incident happened around the time Rosalie hired on a new graphic designer named Jasper. We had come to the point where I could no longer take on the kind of client base we had accumulated all on my own. Rose walked into my office one day with a tall, lanky young man in tow.

"Alice, this is Jasper, he's the new designer I hired," she explained as she motioned to the guy who stood with his hair hanging in his face.

"Hi," he said shyly.

"It's nice to meet you," I said as I turned to him with my fake, plastic smile in place.

He shook my hand when I offered it to him, but I still couldn't see his face through the curtain of yellow shielding him from me. I blew it off at first, not even thinking he could be anything more than a work acquaintance.

Rose showed him to his work station and I turned back to my screen to finish my current design. For the first two weeks Jasper worked with me, it was very much the same—he showed up about fifteen minutes after I did (I'm an early-bird, and a workaholic...what can I say?) and we'd exchange lame pleasantries before we got down to business for the day.

It wasn't until mid-way through his third week that I saw his face for the first time. He was cute, in a boyish sort of way. He had green eyes and a crooked smile. He turned to ask me a question, and it was the first time I really heard his voice—he had the slightest hint of a Texas accent.

By some act of god, I didn't have a lunch date already determined by James, so I went in on some pizza with Bella and Rosalie. They invited Jasper in on it as well, and we ended up sitting around the break room, talking and eating and just having a good time.

I knew Bella and Rose must have seen my severe change as of late—I had deteriorated more in the last six months of my relationship with James than I had over the course of the first two-and-a-half years. I began to realize what Rosalie might have been up to as I sat and talked with Jasper.

He was sweet, smart and he liked good music and movies. He was beyond easy to talk to, as well. After just a few hours of real conversation, I felt like I had known him for years.

I went home that night feeling better than I had in months, only to have that great feeling doused as soon as James noticed I couldn't stop smiling—and it wasn't him who was making me smile.

"So," he said, his voice cautious yet deadly, "Have a good day at work today?"

"Yeah," I replied as I began dishing out dinner, "I finished a really big project for a big client and Bella, Rose and I ordered some pizza and had a really fun day."

I had become good at lying to him. And besides, I wasn't about to put myself in harm's way by telling James about Jasper. In fact, I didn't even tell him Rosalie was hiring a new graphic designer. Hell, he might take that as a means of making me stay home more often. I could just picture him trying to persuade me to let the new graphic designer take on most of the work while I stayed home and took care of things around the house.

James had pretty much made himself at home in my apartment after my initial refusal to move in with him. He works for his father's advertising firm and gets to work from home a lot. I know he would have loved it if I could have been home to wait on him hand and foot while he spent all day in the makeshift office he made out of my kitchen every day.

His eyes were filled with doubt as I looked up at him now, though. There was something else there, just behind my eyes, that said there was another reason I had had such a great day.

"Hmmm," was all he said, though. He stabbed his fork into a piece of chicken and bit it off a little more aggressively than was necessary. I took a sip of wine and braced myself for the verbal attack I knew must be brewing.

But, he continued to eat angrily and didn't raise so much as a finger against me. I finished my dinner and cleared the table while he sat on the couch and flipped on the TV. I poured myself another glass of wine and sat next to him while he watched some game show.

It was about 10 p.m. before I decided I was tired enough to go to bed. I kissed him on the cheek and walked into the room. I changed into my nice, silk nightgown and turned off the light as I slipped under the sheets.

It was about an hour later before I felt the nightgown being ripped from my body. I weakly tried to push James off of me, but he slapped he twice before putting his lips close to my ear—I could detect the faint hint of tequila on his breath.

"I know you're lying to me, bitch," he said in a low, deadly voice. "And, until you finally decide to be a good girl and tell me what you're up to, you'll take what's coming to you."

With that, he slapped me one more time for good measure and went about having his way with me, despite my pathetic, simpering protests. This was a first for him—there have been times in the past when I really didn't feel like having sex, but let him have his way to avoid an argument. Now, I said over and over again for him to stop, and he blatantly ignored me.

Great, now I wasn't just letting the asshole hit me, I was letting him rape me as well.

I got up the next morning and took the pancake makeup I had been forced to invest in out from under my sink. I applied it liberally to the bruises now forming on my cheeks and, once I was satisfied no purple seeped through, I got dressed and went to work.

I was still there long before anyone else walked in, so I hunkered down at my desk and vowed I'd keep to myself today. Unfortunately, Jasper was feeling very bold since our long conversation the day before.

"Hey," he greeted as I gave him a half-hearted nod. "How's it going?"

"'S fine," I said quietly, trying to focus on a butterfly design for a girl's snowboard.

I could feel him staring at the back of my head awkwardly as I arranged my design on the special software program I had designed when we started the company. After a few seconds, he turned and sat down at his desk. I thought I had successfully deterred his attentions when an hour later he turned back to me suddenly.

"Hey, I made a CD of that band I told you about," he exclaimed as he stood and took something from his messenger bag. "Here."

He handed me the CD in a blue jewel case while I gave him a decidedly unenthusiastic thanks. I tried to turn away again when he put a hand on my shoulder.

"Are you OK?"

"I'm fine...just tired," I said.

I looked up to give him a good, fake smile before realizing that was a big mistake and tried to duck my face down as quickly as possible. He wasn't fooled, however.

"Hey...I don't mean to sound rude, but, is there something wrong with your face? You seem to be wearing a lot of make up."

"Break out," I said quickly. "I woke up and my face was covered in zits."

"Wow, that was fast," he said with a little chuckle. "I mean, yesterday, your face looked perfect—and you didn't seem to be wearing any makeup at all."

"My period's about to start," I replied, hoping that bit of TMI would force my very observant co-worker to take the hint and leave me alone.

"Ah," he said simply—my evil scheme seemed to have worked.

He sat back down and returned to his work. I made sure to set a lunch date with James today to help alleviate any further suspicions he had about me from the night before. He called around 11:30 to let me know he was home and he wanted me to pick up some Chinese food.

I was mid-conversation when Jasper came up behind me.

"Hey Al, do you want to get some pizza again today? I know it's overkill—getting pizza two days in a row—but that was so good. I've never had Abo's before."

I put my hand over the receiver quickly, "Sorry Jasper, I have plans with my boyfriend."

"Oh," he replied, his face dropped noticeably. "Well, some other time then."

I nodded and waited for James to unleash his fury on me. But, once again, it didn't come—and that made me even more scared.

I stopped by the Golden Lotus and picked up the order I had placed before leaving work. I walked into the apartment and was greeted by James sitting on my couch watching TV, as usual. He didn't even acknowledge my presence—and I debated making a run for it. But, of course, he would catch me and make me pay even more for that little stunt, so I set the food on the counter and went about getting out plates and silverware as if nothing was wrong.

I set the table and went back to grab a couple of soda cans from the fridge when I felt myself being pushed into the counter. I cursed myself for wearing a skirt that day as he bent me over the counter top and pushed the flimsy fabric up to my waist.

Once he had finished, he held us both there and grabbed the back of my hair, pulling my ear closer to his lips.

"Who the fuck is Jasper?"

When I didn't answer right away, he tugged my hair, eliciting a tiny squeal from my mouth.

"Answer me!!"

"He works with me," I replied.

"Bullshit," he spat, "I've never heard of any guys working there—it's just been you, Rose and Bella. When did this douche bag start working there?"

"About three weeks ago," I said, my voice strained from the unnatural angle at which he had my neck.

"What does he do?" He continued as he nipped at my earlobe.

I hesitated again and was met with another fierce tug at my hair.

"He's a designer," I finally spat quickly. "Rosalie said we needed another one because we have too many clients now."

His evil laughed filled the air around me as his free hand moved up to get a hold of my neck.

"You've been keeping that from me for three weeks, bitch? Are you fucking crazy."

"It's nothing," I countered. "We just work together."

"Bullshit!!" He screamed again, "You want to fuck him!!"

"NO I DON'T!!!" I was way past desperate at this point. "PLEASE, JAMES!! BABY!!! I LOVE YOU!!! I LOVE ONLY YOU!!!"

"You fucking lying, little whore!!!" He scream as he spun us around and sent me flying into the kitchen table. "I'll fucking kill you!!!!!"

I grabbed for something, anything to defend myself with. My hand found itself wrapped around a fork and I flung it in his direction as he came towards me. My aim was better than it had ever been in my life, as the fork made contact with his left eye. It didn't stick there for very long, but it incapacitated him enough so I could make a run for it.

I was down to my car in what seemed like a nanosecond. Then, I realized my purse was upstairs with my keys inside. Since I knew going back upstairs was suicide, I made use of my nice, sturdy Doc Martens and ran in the direction of work. It was about three miles away, but I knew I could make it—I've run the Bolder Boulder a couple of times; and even then, I didn't have a crazed, brutal asshole of a boyfriend chasing me.

It took me about twenty minutes to reach work, even with traffic lights working against me, and I collapsed in a heap near the reception desk. Karen, the receptionist, ran from behind her desk and stood over me in a blind panic.

"ALICE!! Are you OK, dear? Oh, Rosalie!! Rosalie, there's something wrong with Alice!!"

I heard her heavy footsteps running away from me as I struggled to catch my breath. I rolled over onto my back and stared at the ceiling as footsteps ran back in my direction.

"Alice, what happened?" Rose yelled as she stood over me. "What's wrong? Do you need a doctor? Should we call an ambulance?"

"No," I finally choked out. "I'm fine, really."

"You don't look fine," she said as she felt my forehead. "Jesus, Al, you're on fire! Do you feel like you're going to vomit?"

"Maybe," I said honestly. "But, that's because I ran here."

"Why the hell would you do that for?"

"Can we get out of the open to talk about this?" I asked.

"Sure," she said as she tried to help me up.

I faltered and was caught in a pair of strong, male arms. At first, I screamed, assuming it was James right behind me. But Jasper shushed me gently as he lifted me easily into his arms.

"It's OK," he whispered in his Texas drawl. "Everything is going to be fine."

**What do you think? Worth continuing?**


	2. Chapter 2

**I think I'm going to write all of this in Alice's point of view; but, I'll see how it goes. For now, know that Alice is the narrator – until further notice…**

Jasper carried me into the break room where I could lay down on the couch while Rosalie brought me some water. I downed the entire cup she handed to me before I was bombarded by my friend's questions.

"Alice, what the hell happened after you got home?" Rose asked as Bella sat next to me on the arm of the couch and stroked my hair gently. "Did James do something to you?"

I took a deep breath and glanced back and forth between Rose and Bella before I began.

"He…got upset," I replied as I looked down at my hands.

"What did he do?" Bella asked.

"He threw me into the table and I fought him off so I could make a run for it." I decided to keep everything on a need to know basis in this situation – and my friends only needed to know the bare minimum facts, I thought.

"Why?" Rose pressed.

I sighed, "He overheard me talking to Jasper earlier, and I think he got a little jealous."

"A little jealous?" Rose scoffed.

I nodded.

Rose stormed out of the room, "I'm calling Emmett."

"No," I whined – why did one of my best friends have to be dating my oldest brother?

I tried to get up, but Bella and Jasper held me down.

"Who's Emmett?" Jasper asked.

"My very large brother," I answered.

"Al, you know this is for the best," Bella said. "We can't just let James hurt you and do nothing."

"I'm fine," I lied. "It was nothing."

"It's not nothing," Bella replied, she was starting to get emotional, "Don't think we don't know that bastard has been treating you badly! This has to stop!"

Rose walked back in just then, "Em said he'll be here in an hour."

"Rose! You didn't have to get him out of work to run out here for this," I whined.

Rose sat down in a chair across from me and crossed her arms over her chest, "Bella, this isn't the first time he's hit you, is it?"

I looked away quickly – I could never lie to Rose, she could always see right through me. She stood up again and grabbed something from the nearest counter. She knelt down next to me and took my face in her left hand; with her right, she began rubbing the now melting makeup off my cheeks.

"Stop!" I cried, trying to pull away.

Bella held my shoulders while Rose cleaned the foundation off my face. I felt tears begin to run down my cheeks as I lay there and let my friends see the bruises that blemished my skin. Bella gasped. Rose sat back in her former chair and shook her head at me in disgust.

"Alice," she whispered, "How could you let him do that to you? Why didn't you say something?"

"I don't know," I said quietly, "I guess I was scared."

"How long has this been going on?" Bella asked, her voice breaking mid-sentence.

"Awhile."

I finally sat up and looked around the room. I noticed Jasper gazing at the floor with a strange expression on his face – he looked like he was very upset. I couldn't understand why, he's only known me for three weeks. We couldn't have formed any sort of bond that quickly, could we?

We were all sitting in silence when suddenly we could hear Karen yelling from the front of the building.

"You can't just go back there!" She screamed.

Then, I heard his evil voice fill the air, "The hell I can't, you fat, old bitch! I'm here to see my girlfriend."

Rosalie was the first to jump up and walk out to the hallway leading to the break room. Jasper followed her and slammed the door behind him, leaving Bella and I safely out of harm's way – I hoped.

I stood and walked to the door, despite Bella's protests. I pressed my ear against the only thing keeping me away from a man who threatened to kill me, just waiting to hear what he would say to Rose and Jasper.

I was mostly afraid for Jasper – he was the reason James had lost his control earlier. But, most guys had the luxury of making James upset without having to face him so soon afterward – Jasper would not be so lucky.

"What do you want, James?" Rosalie asked him.

I heard him snicker in his devious way, "I'm just here to see my little Ali-Baby, Rose. You should know that."

"After what you did to her?" Rose asked incredulously, "I don't think so."

"What I did to her?" James replied, feigning ignorance, "I would never hurt my baby. I love her!"

"I've seen the bruises, James – we all have," Rose countered. "And, you're not getting within so much as ten feet of Alice, you hear me?"

It was silent for a moment, and then James started laughing.

"What? Is the little wussy-boy here going to stop me?" He scoffed, I assumed he was talking about Jasper – taunting him, in his oh so devilish way.

"I think Jasper could handle himself," Rose said. "But, if he doesn't, you should know that Emmett is on his way – and, he knows what you did. Oh, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's bringing Edward with him."

The mention of my brothers' names shut him up sufficiently. I could just imagine him standing there, eyes full of fear at the prospects of a couple of former college football players waiting to pummel him into oblivion. He may be trained in krav maga, but he's still a chicken-shit at heart.

He didn't say another word – I could only hear footsteps walking away, towards the front door. I breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Bella, who did the same. I sat back on the couch as Rose and Jasper walked back into the room. Jasper sat next to me as Rose sat in the chair across from us; she looked a little too smug if you ask me.

"Well, I don't think you'll be seeing him again for awhile," she said triumphantly.

"Yeah…you forget that I have to go back to my apartment later," I replied. "And, odds are, he's going to be there waiting for me."

She laughed, "Not if he's smart. Come on, he knows Emmett and Edward will be with you when you go back home tonight. He's not going to risk his neck just to try and mess with you again."

"If he's smart?" I mocked with a laugh, "Have you met James?"

"Still," she said with a chuckle, "I think even if he is there when you go home, Emmett will be more than able to put his head through a wall."

I laughed again, this time with a hint of sadness. Jasper seemed to catch on to my emotional state.

"I'll be there too, if you want," he said in his sweet, southern drawl. "I mean, I'm not much, but I'll definitely be by your side if you feel this James guy could do something dangerous."

"Thanks," I replied softly.

I stood up and walked back to my office to finish what I had been working on earlier – trying to get my mind off this strange turn in my circumstances. There was something about Jasper's attitude that stuck with me, though. Like he had some strange gift that made a person feel at ease. Emmett and Edward showed up a bit later, and Em was already on a rampage.

"Where is he?" He yelled as he stormed down the hall to my office. "Where is the fucking douche bag? I'll kill that bastard for laying so much as a finger on my baby sister. He is a dead man!"

I stood up wearily and met him at the door to mine and Jasper's office. He towered over me and took my face in his hands. He examined the bruises on my cheeks, and only became more incensed by this.

"Oh yes!" He yelled. "He's going to die a horrible, horrible death!"

Edward was right behind him. At first, it seemed like my middle brother was trying to keep Emmett level-headed. But, as soon as he saw what James had done to me, Eddie was just as amped up as our bigger, gorilla-like brother.

"Where is he, Al?" Edward asked his eyes ablaze with rage.

"I'm not sure," I replied. "But, he's probably at my apartment – that's where he's been spending most of his time lately."

"Let's go," Emmett said, taking me by the arm and leading me out the door.

I grabbed a hold of the door frame to Bella's office in an attempt to hold my ground.

"Em, Eddie, I have some work to finish, so we can stop by my apartment later, OK?" I asked, trying to assert myself.

"They're right, Alice," Jasper said. "We should go over there now and get you out of there – see if we can pack up your stuff and get you into Rose or Bella's place tonight. I don't think it would be a good idea for you to stay at that apartment tonight."

"Who are you?" Emmett asked, sizing up Jasper.

"I'm Jasper Whitlock," he replied. "I'm a new graphic designer here."

"Jasper's right," Edward said. "We should get you out of there as soon as possible. If James is willing to do this to you now, who knows what he'll be capable of if we give him time to contemplate a way to retaliate?"

"That's exactly what I'm thinking," Jasper replied. "I think we should get her to some place safe and unfamiliar to James."

All the men around me were talking strategy as if they were plotting to takeover a small, sovereign nation. I almost had to laugh at the way they were acting – but, they were all so sincere about keeping me safe, I couldn't find it in my heart to openly mock them. Instead, I knocked on Bella's door to see if I could stay at her place for a few days.

She and I talked for a few seconds before she threw her arms around my neck and squealed about how she'd love it if I stayed with her.

"It's going to be so much fun, Al!" She cried as we walked out to Emmett's enormous Jeep.

We all piled in and drove to my place. I had always liked my apartment – it was situated where I could see the sun set behind the Flatirons every night. I've spent quite a few nights out on my balcony, just wishing the warm, beautiful feeling could last. And then, James would usually come along and shatter my illusion. But, still, I loved my little apartment.

But, I guess I could learn to love a new place, too.

Luckily for James, he was nowhere to be seen when I walked into my apartment. He was even so kind as to leave the door unlocked. As soon as we entered, Emmett, Edward and Jasper got busy getting my belongings down to the Jeep. We would make a couple trips tonight – first, getting my larger pieces of furniture, like my bed and my sofa. While Emmett, Edward and Bella drove those first few pieces over to Bella's apartment, Jasper and I began packing the rest of my things.

"So," he began, trying to sound nonchalant, "How long were you with this James, anyway?"

At first, I didn't answer him. And, I think he took that as I sign I didn't want to talk about him.

"Sorry," he said quickly. "It's none of my business."

"No, it's fine," I replied. "We've been together for about three years now."

"Do you love him?"

"Thought I did," I replied.

"Isn't that always the way?" He asked with a hint of bitterness in his voice. "Think you've found the one – that person you want to spend the rest of your life with – and they turn out to be completely, bat-shit crazy."

I laughed, "Sounds like you've been burned recently, too."

"Well, it is the reason I moved to Colorado," he said as he placed my flatware carefully in a box.

"Where did you come from?"

"Galveston," he said.

I smiled and fought the urge to sing that annoying Glen Campbell song. "And, some girl broke your heart before you made the trip up north?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Maria…she seemed like the perfect girl, and I was about to ask her to marry me. Then, she just up and broke things off without a thought of how it would crush me. Started running around, trying to sleep with any man in sight."

He stopped packing while the memory of his former love clouded his thoughts. I wanted to run to him, to comfort him and tell him everything would be alright. I almost laughed again at how our roles had changed so quickly – me as the protector and he as the victim.

Once we had all of my stuff at Bella's apartment, we ordered some food for the night. It occurred to me I had not eaten since breakfast this morning. Edward and Bella drove to Qdoba to grab us some dinner while Emmett, Jasper and I sat on the couch, waiting for Rosalie to drop by.

"I'm going to have to break my lease on my apartment," I said, absentmindedly as we watched some strange, HBO program.

"It's not like it hasn't been done before," Emmett replied, draping his arm over my shoulder.

"I know," I said. "I'm just not looking forward to the hassle it's going to put me through to do that."

"It'll be fine," Jasper said, patting my knee innocently.

I smiled weakly at him as Rosalie walked in with Edward and Bella in tow. Rose sat on Emmett's lap and gave him a kiss that made me a little uncomfortable to be sitting next to them. Jasper must have sensed my unease as he stood up and offered me his hand.

"Ready to get some dinner, Miss Cullen?" He asked in his very gentlemanly, Texas manner.

I smirked, "That's **MS**. Cullen to you, Tex."


	3. Chapter 3

**There was some confusion in the last chapter, so let me clarify – we are still in an extended flashback sequence. In fact, that's what most of this story is going to be.**

**Now, on with the story –**

It had been a week since the incident with James, and things had been looking up for me. Jasper was really a sweet guy, and he would constantly come over to Bella's apartment to hang out with me.

Also, my brother Edward had been spending a lot more time in Boulder these days. The funny thing is he lives and works in Denver – at least a thirty minute drive from Boulder, and that's with hardly any traffic. He was coming over to Bella's quite a lot, and I had a sneaking suspicion that he was texting her while we were at work. I'd walk into her office to show off a design and she'd quickly stow her phone back into her purse like she didn't want me to see who she was talking to.

I had been devising a plan to get her to fess up to dating my brother. I was thinking of including Jasper in my little plot to trick Bella, as well. I brought it up to him one day when we were enjoying our now usual lunch together.

"So, I think Bella's secretly dating my brother," I began as I stabbed a piece of lettuce with my fork.

"Really?" He laughed, "Is that OK, with you? I mean, do you want your friend to date your brother, or would that be weird?"

"I'm fine with it," I assured him, "It's just weird that she feels like she needs to hide it from me."

"So talk to her about it," he said as munched on a breadstick.

"She'd just deny it," I replied. "Bella's so shy; she'd just say they were friends."

"Well…what if they are just friends?" He asked. "That is possible, you know – for a guy and a girl to just be friends."

I was taken aback at first, because I thought for just a moment he was also referencing the relationship he and I had together. I brushed that fear aside and continued.

"No, I think there's something going on," I said. "So, tonight, I'm going to try and get it out of Bella – care to help me?"

"How do you propose I do that?" He asked with a wicked smile.  
"Well, I was thinking we could make some dinner tonight, get her a little toasty – you know, she's such a cheap drunk – and then I will very cautiously and nonchalantly bring up Edward. She'll totally start spilling her guts after, I'd say, the second glass of Merlot."

"You're more devious than I could have ever guessed, Ms. Cullen," he replied.

I laughed as I moved on to my soup. "So…are you in?"

He seemed to be debating as he grazed his fork over his pasta. "I guess – but, as long as we don't push her too far, OK?"

"I promise," I replied. "Trust me…we're just going to wheedle her little secret out."

"OK," he replied, skeptically, "If you say so."

Jasper and I went to the store after work to pick up a few things for dinner, and a little alcohol to help Bella become as chatty as possible, and then drove to Bella's apartment. As I walked in, armed with the key she gave me, I found her with her Blackberry in her hands, giggling uncontrollably over something that had been texted to her.

"Hey!" I called out to her as Jasper and I set the grocery bags in the kitchen – she promptly hid her phone behind her back.

I gave Jasper a smirk as we began to set out the ingredients for dinner. As Jasper filled a pot with water to boil for some pasta, I pulled out the corkscrew and opened up a bottle of wine.

"Bells! Want some Merlot?"

"Um, sure," she replied nervously.

I took out three large wine glasses and filled them with the dark, burgundy liquid. I handed one to Bella as she walked in the kitchen. We tapped our glasses together and each took a sip. Her phone began buzzing again and she checked the message – a smile, once again, spreading across her face.

"Who's that?" I said, managing to keep all salacious implications out of my tone.

"A friend," she said quickly. "Just telling me how his day went."

I nodded without pressing further. Jasper stood next to me and took his glass of wine. Bella gave me a knowing glance before her phone buzzed again. I shook off the weird vibe I got from her and continued to sip my wine.

We sat down to some gnocchi with pesto and conversed about the unimportant events of the day. It was the same as every day, accept Bella and I kept eyeing each other discreetly – or so I thought – throughout the meal. I poured Bella and me another glass of wine and we sat on the couch. We watched Wife Swap – against our better judgment – while Jasper went out on the balcony to smoke. I'm going to have to break him of that habit, I thought to myself.

The commercials rolled around and I looked over at Bella – she seemed to be in that place where she was just tipsy enough, but not too wasted to comprehend a conversation. I smiled and took another sip of wine.

"So, who was texting you before?" I asked.

"I told you," she replied, "Just a friend."

"What friend?" I pressed. "I mean, you don't have too many male friends that I don't know about. So, why won't you tell me?"

She looked down at where her hands lay in her lap before risking a glance over at me. She sighed, "I want to tell you, but I'm afraid you'll get upset."

"I won't," I said quickly. "I promise."

"I…I don't know…"

"Come on, Bells; don't I tell you everything?"

Her expression changed suddenly as she turned to face me. She had a wicked smirk on her face, and I was struck with a sudden regret for pushing her. What did she have up her sleeve?  
"No," she replied. "In fact, you don't tell me anything. Like, what's going on between you and Jasper?"

"What?" I said, a little too quickly, "There's nothing going on between me and Jasper."

"Please," she spat, "You expect me to tell you my secret, and yet you won't spill about how you and Jasper are clearly in the beginnings of something? That's not fair, Al!"

"I'm not holding anything back, I swear, Bells!" I said as I set my glass on the table, "There is seriously nothing going on between me and Jasper, I swear! I mean, it's not that I don't like him; it's just that it's too soon after my relationship with James to jump into anything."

She rolled her eyes at me, "Sure."

"I'm serious, Bells," I assured her, "You know if I was going to get into another relationship, you'd be the first person I'd tell. You're my best friend."

She stared at the coffee table in front of us for a moment before turning back to me, "Fine…I've been texting…Edward."

She was quiet, like she was waiting for me to react badly to this news. I just smiled and put a hand on her shoulder, "Do you like him?"

"Yes," she replied with a laugh. "I like him a lot, and he likes me. We've both just been a little afraid you would be upset that your best friend is dating your brother."

"I'm fine with it, Bells," I said as I put my arms around her neck. "I think you and my brother will be very happy together."

"Really?" She asked as she pulled away. "You're not upset?"

"No," I laughed, "I'm happy for you two."

We hugged and laughed for a few minutes more before I heard a little cough from the vicinity of the balcony. Jasper was standing there with a smile on his face. He strode over to hang up his coat before settling down on the couch next to me. Bella was about to give me another smirk when her phone buzzed. She responded to Edward's text with a sweet, giddy grin on her face.

I couldn't help but grin in response.

When Bella had finally gone to bed, Jasper and I sat on the couch watching some late, Friday night movie on HBO. I was lightly dozing off in his arms when he turned the TV off; he seemed to be watching me sleep in his arms for a few moments before I lifted my head to meet his eyes.

"What?" I asked sleepily.

"Did…did you mean what you said to Bella?" He asked. "Could you really be with me, if you weren't still reeling over that whole James thing?"

I felt my heart skip a beat as he stared at me earnestly. He really does have feelings for me, and it made me want to jump into his lap and kiss him then and there. But, I refrained and managed to find my voice.

"Yes," I replied. "If I wasn't so messed up right now, I think you would be the perfect man for me."

He brushed the wisps of my short hair out of my face and smiled sweetly. He kissed my forehead lightly before pulling back to gaze at me again.

"Well…I am more than willing to be patient, Alice Cullen," he said, "Because you are, without a doubt, the perfect woman for me."

We remained there – him staring in my eyes, me staring at his lips – for about fifteen minutes before Bella's phone vibrated on the coffee table again. I cursed my brother for ruining such a perfect moment as I grabbed the Blackberry and read the message he texted to my friend.

_Hey Baby, when can you meet me tomorrow?_

I fought my upchuck reflex and set the phone back down. Jasper grabbed my hands and brought me back to face him.

"Well, I'd better head on home, sweet Alice," he said, his drawl even more pronounced. "Can I call on you tomorrow?"

"Absolutely," I breathed as we continued to stare at each other.

He laughed gently and placed another kiss on my forehead. He stood and walked out slowly, my gaze trailing him the whole way. I fell asleep soon after and had my very first dream of Jasper Whitlock. It wouldn't be my last.

I got up got in the shower very early the next day. I was so excited to be spending the day with Jasper, I almost jumped out of the shower without washing my hair properly. I was drying my hair when my phone started to ring. Jasper's name appeared on my caller ID and I took a deep breath before answering.

"Hey," I said, trying to remain cool. "How's it going?"

He chuckled lightly, "It's going good, considering it's only ten in the morning. So, when can I come pick you up? I didn't wake you, did I?"

"No, I've been up," I replied. "And, you can come pick me up whenever. Where are we going?"

"No, no, no, ma'am," he said. "You're just going to have to be surprised."

"Surprised?" I laughed. "You do realize I've spent my whole life in Boulder, right?"

"I do realize that," he replied. "But, I also remembered you talking about some places you said you've never really been to."

"Well, now you've given it away."

"Not completely," he countered. "There were a few places you mentioned to me…it could be anywhere."

"OK, so when are you coming to get me?" I asked.

"Soon," he replied as he hung up.

About an hour later, Jasper was knocking on my door. I followed him down to the parking lot and jumped into his truck with him. He slung an arm around me as he drove through the streets of Boulder, now crowded with people out shopping on a Saturday. Soon, however, we were past all the traffic as we drove up Baseline Road. I turned to him and smirked.

"I've been to Chautauqua Park," I said.

"I know, but you told me you've never had a picnic here," he replied with a smile, "Especially not with a boyfriend or anything."

"Well…technically, I'm not going with a boyfriend today, either," I countered.

"Technically, you're correct," he agreed. "But, I am a male friend…and, I have boyfriend potential, right?"

"Most definitely," I said.

He pulled into a parking lot and grabbed a basket out of the back seat of the truck's king cab while I stood out in the sunshine and enjoyed the amazing view – field after field of wildflowers with the Rocky Mountains towering majestically in the background. As any true Coloradan, I don't take my surroundings for granted.

Jasper took my hand and guided me out to the middle of one of those fields. He set out a blanket for us and I sat down as he began pulling Tupperware out of the basket.

"It looks like you put a great deal of thought into this," I said with a smirk.

"It would appear that way," he replied, returning my expression, "But, if I'm going to be completely honest with you, I must let you know that nothing we will be eating today was prepared by me."

"Really?" I laughed, "Then, where did you get it from?"

"I was at Whole Foods when I called you this morning," he admitted.

"Then…did you take all this home and put it into your own containers?"

He nodded.

"That's too cute," I laughed.

"I'm glad you think so," he replied. "I just really have no skills in the kitchen besides boiling water for pasta."

"But, you do that so well – if that's any consolation," I said.

"Thanks, sweetheart," he laughed as he kissed the tip of my nose.

We ate the tasty food he had so thoughtfully bought for today and talked for what seemed like days. It had, in fact, taken us about five hours to finish up all the food and finally realize the sun was now getting closer and closer to the mountains.

"Looks like we'd better call it a day," he said as we lay on the blanket.

I was stretched out, my head resting on his chest, and I did honestly feel a bit sleepy. Maybe it was just how Jasper made me feel so comfortable, so at home. I pushed myself up to a sitting position and stretched my arms over my head. Jasper chuckled as he laid back and watched me.

"You look kinda like a cat when you do that," he said.

"That's probably how I got the nickname Ali-Cat in high school," I replied.

"Ali-cat," he mused, "Can I call you that?"

"If you want to," I said.

"I do; it suits you so well, the cat thing – cute, tiny, feisty…cuddly."

"Cuddly?" I laughed, "You think I'm cuddly?"

"You are so much more than cuddly," he said. "I could definitely get used to snuggling up to you every night."

I felt the blush wash over my face as I took in the beautiful words he said to me. James had never been so sweet to me – he was more into talking about himself. Looking back now, I wonder how I ever really fell for him. We were two very different people, the only thing we had in common was a love of sports and keeping in shape. And even in that, he was a bit too extreme for me most of the time.

Jasper seemed so different. In the five hours we had just spent together, we got to know about each other's families – he's the oldest of three kids, with two younger sisters he's crazy about. His parents own and operate a cattle ranch in Galveston, where he worked as a ranch hand until he went to the Art Institute of Houston to get his degree in graphic design. That's where he met Maria – but, he didn't dwell on his past with her.

He was also a musician, a guitar player and singer; though, he hasn't been in a band for a while. I told him Boulder had plenty of musicians looking for people to form bands with.

We packed things up and drove back into the heart of the city. Something inside me said it wasn't time to say goodbye to him yet. He began to turn onto the street where Bella's apartment building was located, but I told him to keep going.

"You don't want to go home?" He asked.

"No…let's go to your place," I said, "I haven't seen it yet."

"If that's what you want," he said.

He pulled a u-turn and made his way to Broadway. His apartment complex was stunning, right next to a lake and surrounded by immaculately kept lawns. I raised an eyebrow at him, "How can you afford this place?"

"I had a bit of money saved up from when I used to do odd jobs in Houston," he said. "I decided, 'why not splurge on a really nice place?'"

I laughed, "That's the understatement of the century! These have to be the nicest apartments in Boulder!"

"They're the nicest ones I looked at, I know that much," he said.

We walked into his apartment he gave me an informal tour – his nice, big kitchen; his spacious study and his bedroom. He had a large bed that seemed very comfortable, and I almost lost myself in imagining what it would be like to wake up there in the morning with his arms locked tightly around me.

He put on a DVD as I sat on his big, plush couch and we watched a whole season of _Scrubs_ before I passed out from exhaustion. I didn't even notice when he lifted me up and settled me down under the Navy blue comforter of that big bed. When I woke the next day, I rubbed my eyes and took in my surroundings. Now I knew what it felt like to wake up in his bed – just not with him in it.

I walked out to the living room to find his lanky frame sprawled out on his couch, a throw blanket barely covering him. It was just as well we hadn't slept in the same bed last night…it was something to look forward to…

**Unfortunately, we're not through with James just yet…**


	4. Chapter 4

It was the Wednesday after my amazing weekend with Jasper when James decided to show his face again. I had finalized everything with the managers of my old apartment complex and was freed from my lease—which I still had four months on. Apparently, James had never gone back to get his things out of the apartment, and the managers sold all of his stuff without his knowledge.

He came storming into the office again, but this time, I wasn't about to cower away from him like the frightened little girl I used to be. James forced his way past Karen again and stomped down to mine and Jasper's office, crying about his lost belongings the whole way.

"That stupid bitch! Who the fuck does she think she is, giving away my stuff like that?"

Jasper got up and stood in front of me as James threw the door open and glared at the both of us.

"Oh no, you won't be saving her now, sissy-boy," James sneered at Jasper. "She's got to pay for what she's done."

"And what is that, exactly?" Jasper asked.

"She let those bastards at our old place sell my shit off—they took my fucking Armani suit and just gave it to Good Will!"

"That's not my fault," I replied as I stood on my toes to see over Jasper's shoulder. "You're the one who left your so-called 'shit' at MY apartment."

"You could have called me," James whined. "Now I'm out a $3,000 suit!"

"Boo-fucking-Hoo," Jasper mocked. "After the pain you put Alice through, I'd say $3,000 is the least you could be parted with."

"No one's talking to you, douche bag!" James spat at Jasper.

Rosalie and Bella appeared in the doorway then; Rose had her cell phone out and looked like she was ready to dial.

"James, I've got Emmett on speed dial, here," Rose said. "Don't make me call him."

"Do it," James demanded, turning towards the door. "He's still in Aurora...it'll take him almost an hour to get here. I could do a lot in just one hour."

Just then, Jasper lunged forward and pinned James face-first on the floor. Jasper placed his knee firmly behind James' neck and kept him in that position while he asked Rosalie to call the police. Jasper finally let up when a couple of officers walked in and arrested James. As they dragged him out of the office, his demeanor was still as arrogant as ever.

"They can't hold me, Ali-baby," he called, trying to crane his neck around to look at me. "I'll be back."

"Give it a rest, kid," one of the officers said.

A third officer took me aside and asked me a few questions. I told him about my history with James and why he had come to the office today to make trouble. Officer Knapp gave me a sympathetic look, "You should probably get a restraining order on this guy."

I shook my head, "I don't want to have to go through some big court hearing or anything."

"It's worth your time, Ms. Cullen," he replied. "This guy is a typical, abusive, obsessive man; he's not going to just leave you alone."

"He's right, Alice," Jasper said. "You should file a report and try to get this pushed through as quickly as possible."

I sighed, "How long does it take?"

"A few weeks," Officer Knapp said. "You file a report, they have a hearing in civil court and the judge decides what type of protection is needed. If he violates the order, he goes to prison."

I was liking the sound of this more and more. I turned to Jasper, and he gave me a reassuring wink.

"OK, let's file a report," I said.

During our lunch break, Jasper, Rosalie and Bella accompanied me to the Boulder County Sheriff's Office, where I filed the claim for a restraining order. The woman behind the counter said the District Attorney's office would be in touch with me as soon as possible. I thanked her as we left.

Rosalie took us to Sunflower for a celebratory lunch. Though, it wasn't to mine or Jasper's tastes. Rose likes fancy places where they serve things like Mahi Mahi and Beet Carpaccio. I think Jasper would have rather had some barbeque.

After work, I followed Jasper back to his place and we watched some TV and ate some real food. I got a call at about 5:30 from the DA's office telling me the hearing was set for next Friday. I thanked the woman on the other end of the line and hung up before taking a deep breath. Jasper walked over and put his arms around my waist.

"Just a little over a week," I told him quietly. "And I'll finally be rid of James."

Jasper placed a soft kiss on the right side of my neck, "Don't worry, Ali-cat, I'm here for you."

I smiled and took his right hand, lifting it to my lips for a kiss. I guess one good thing has come out of this whole mess – it led me to Jasper, the most wonderful man I've ever met.

The next weekend, Jasper pulled out all the stops to help me celebrate my impending freedom from James. He invited all of my friends and family over to his place for a barbeque. Of course, he would take any excuse to fire up that big Weber grill collecting dust out on his porch.

Edward and Emmett came over early to help him get things started. Jasper had been slow-roasting some spareribs in the oven over night, and was going to finish them off on the grill today. I think that's what I was looking forward to the most.

Predictably, my brothers came armed to the teeth with Coronas and Bud Lite. I opened that familiar, yellow bottle and sat in the chair near the screen door to the porch. I watched with mild amusement as the manly men congregated around the grill and talked about the proper way to cook things with fire.

The most amusing part of all was my brothers trying to give grilling advice to a native Texan. That's kind of like trying to teach a bear how to crap in the woods.

Rosalie and Bella stopped by a couple hours later, both wanting to miss the gaiety of watching the three guys debate charcoal over propane for hours on end. We got busy on the side dishes, instead. I put some shucked ears of corn in a pot of boiling water while Rosalie opened a couple cans of baked beans to warm up in the microwave. Needless to say, she's no Ina Garten.

Bella was a little handier in the kitchen; she made a pasta salad and chilled it in her fridge the night before. She opened the container and gave Rosalie and me a taste, and it was excellent—cold tortellini salad with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing and feta cheese.

We were almost ready to begin the feast when there was a knock at Jasper's door.

"It's open!" I called from the kitchen.

In walked my parents and I nearly dropped the stack of plates in my hands. My parents had taken an early retirement in Pagosa Springs—a good six hours away from Boulder. I knew my brothers must have invited them, but I wondered if they had told them about what James did.

It wasn't anything I really felt comfortable talking to my parents about.

"Alice!" They called as they rushed towards me.

"How's my Babygirl?" My mom asked as she kissed my right temple.

"I'm fine Mom, how are you? Jeez, you drove all the way out from Pagosa just for this? What time did you leave this morning?"

"Seven," my dad said simply as he released me from his hug, "but, hey, nothing's too early for my little girl."

Rosalie walked in through the screen door and rushed over to my parents.

"Esme! Carlisle! How are you?"

"We're great, Rose," Mom replied. "Just here to see our wonderful children."

"Though, it would be nice for them to make the trip down to see us every once in a while," Dad added.

"Hey," Emmett said as he walked into the kitchen, "We went down there for Spring Break."

"Yes, and spent most of your time flirting with girls at the hot springs," Mom said.

"Um…excuse me?" Rosalie said as she turned to Emmett. "Flirting?"

"Not really flirting…" Emmett began, grasping for the right words to pull himself out of this hole, "We just hung out with a group of kids from Colorado Springs…and…there may have been some girls in the group."

"Uh-huh," Rose replied as she stalked into the kitchen to grab a plate for some food.

"Aw…baby, don't be like that," Em whined as he followed her.

"Anyway," Mom continued, "How's work, Ali?"

"It's been awesome, we have more clients than ever," I said as I handed Mom a plate and began to pile some of Bella's pasta salad on a plate of my own. "That's why we hired Jasper on, we needed another graphic designer."

"What about the rest of the company?" Dad asked. "Rose, you and Bella doing OK with the bookkeeping and such?"

"We're doing great, Carlisle," Rose replied. "I mean, with the economy the way it is, we're scaled back as far as we can go, employee wise, and are still able to get the work done."

"Alright, because you know Edward is an amazing accountant," Dad said as I rolled my eyes at Rosalie.

"And I already have a job, Dad," Edward called from the balcony.

"Is that Jasper out there with Edward?" Mom whispered to me.

I nodded. She turned to walk outside, but before she left, she seemed to have a strange gleam in her eye. I brushed it off and allowed everyone else to make themselves a plate before I finished piling food on my own. I had just placed an half an ear of corn on my plate when I felt someone grasp my elbow lightly. I turned to see those familiar brown eyes – the same as my own – set in the handsome, if somewhat aged face of my father. He took me deeper into Jasper's kitchen and gave me a stern, yet concerned look.

"Is it true? Did that bastard hit you?" He asked – I didn't need to inquire of whom he spoke.

"Yes," I replied quietly. "But, I went to the sheriff's office today and we're going to have a restraining order put out against him."

He nodded, but his brow remained furrowed as Jasper walked into the kitchen – unaware of what was going on.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said quickly, "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"No, it's OK," Dad said. "Just wanted to speak to Alice for a second. So, doesn't sound like you're from around these parts, Jasper."

"No sir," Jasper replied. "Galveston, Texas – born and raised."

"Very nice," Dad said. "Kind of like that Glen Campbell song."

"Yeah," Jasper laughed as I ran a hand over my face in embarrassment – I was just hoping Dad wouldn't prolong the torture by singing.

I couldn't be that lucky.

"Galveston…oh, Galveston, I still hear your sea winds blowin'," he sang – I died a little inside.

"Here, Dad, can you take the barbeque sauce out to the table, please?" I asked as I grabbed a bottle from the fridge and shoved it in Dad's hands.

"Sure thing," he said, giving me a knowing glance as he left.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered as Jasper chuckled and took an ear of corn for himself.

"Don't be," he replied. "He's almost exactly like my dad. He even breaks into song at a moments' notice."

"Well, it's good to know I'm not alone in the world," I said.

He set his plate down on the counter and approached me slowly. I backed up to the wall as he placed each hand on either side of my head and gave me that crooked smile.

"You're not alone," he whispered, "And, you never will be again."

He placed his lips against mine softly at first, and then he deepened the kiss by pressing his hands against my lower back and pushing my body against his. My hands found their way up his arms slowly before tangling themselves in his tousled, chin-length blond hair. It was, quite possibly, the first real, sweet kiss of my life.

It was interrupted, however, by Edward traipsing into the kitchen, shouting something over his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'll check Mom; hang on a second," he yelled as he stumbled upon us, "Hey…whoa! What's going on here? My sister just gets out a relationship with an asshole, and here you are putting the moves on her?"

Edward moved towards us, glowering at Jasper menacingly. Jasper stood in front of me and put a hand up to hold off my brother.

"Take it easy, Edward," he said calmly, "I'm not about to hurt your sister. I'm in love with her, and I want her to know what it feels like to be with a man who truly loves and appreciates her."

Edward still refused to give up his withering stare as he looked Jasper in the eye. Both were about the same height, but Edward was, by far, more muscular than Jasper and I'm sure my would-be boyfriend wouldn't want to engage my brother in a fight. I put a hand on Jasper's shoulder and moved around him.

"Edward, you have to trust me on this," I told him. "Jasper is nothing like James. And, he's been helping me through this so much – I don't know if I would have had the strength to get that restraining order if not for him. And…I'm falling in love with him, too."

"You don't think it's a little too soon?" Edward asked.

I shook my head, "I just wish I would have met Jasper sooner – I many have spent less time with that abusive asshole."

Edward raised a skeptical eyebrow at me before lifting his eyes back to Jasper, "Just realize you're on notice, man. I'm not letting you out of my sight, got it?"

"I understand," Jasper replied. "I've got two little sisters of my own. And I'd be a little suspicious too in this situation. But, you have absolutely nothing to worry about."

Edward's face softened a bit as he listened to what Jasper said. He nodded finally and looked down at me, "As long as you're happy, Al. That's all that matters."

"Thanks, Eddie," I said as I threw my arms around his neck.

"Hey, hey, hey – what's going on in here?" Emmett asked as he walked in and put Edward in a headlock. "I thought you were going to see if Jasper had any wine for Mom."

"I was," Edward replied in a muffled voice as he tried to release himself from Em's grasp.

"Oh, here," Jasper said as he pulled the fridge open, "You said white zin is her favorite, right?"

"Yup," Emmett said as he grabbed the bottle and took it towards the cabinet with the glasses in it.

As Em filled a wineglass with the pinkish liquid, Edward gave me a meaningful look and glanced towards our brother quickly. I think he was silently asking if I was going to tell Emmett about Jasper – I shook my head and mouthed, "Later."

We finished our food and sat outside talking in the late summer sunset until it seemed like everybody was ready to turn in. Edward, Emmett, Bella and Rosalie all left together, but my parents lingered for a bit. Dad and Jasper chatted outside as Jasper cleaned his grill while Mom and I sat on the couch and watched TV.

She turned to me after a while and I almost broke down when I saw the tears in her eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell anybody?" She said, her voice breaking on the last question.

"I don't know," I said, trying to keep it together. "I was scared of him – if he could do all the things he did to me, who knows what he would have done if I tried to tell someone?"

"What did he do to you?" She asked as she took my face in her hands, "I want to know – was it just beating, or was it something worse?"

Just like Rosalie, I couldn't hide anything from my mother – she read me like a book. I nodded solemnly and looked down at my hands as her eyes filled up with tears again.

"Did he rape you?" She hissed.

I nodded.

She was quiet and shaking for a moment before she stood up and started pacing the room, "I'll kill him! I'LL FUCKING KILL HIM!!!!!!!"

Dad and Jasper rushed into the room so Dad could calm Mom down. He held her close and gave me a questioning look.

"It's nothing, Dad," I said. "We were just talking about…James."

He nodded and shushed my mom gently, "It's OK, Esme. That bastard will get what's coming to him."

Mom was still inconsolable. She turned to face my dad and began trying hysterically to explain what I had just told her, but she couldn't get the words out. Dad just brushed his hands down her face gently.

"Come on, let's head back to the hotel," he said. "We'll see Alice tomorrow."

Mom was still sniffling when I hugged her goodnight. "Please don't tell Dad – let me tell him."

She looked like she was about to argue, but nodded and kissed my gently on the forehead. They left and I flopped down on the couch and sighed. Jasper sat next to me and kissed my temple softly.

"It's alright, kitten, James can never hurt you again," he said.

I chuckled, "So, it's kitten now, huh?"

"Ali-Cat, kitten, kitty cat…my pretty kitty," he teased as he nibbled at my earlobe.

"How about naught kitty?"

He pulled away slightly, "Really? How naughty are we talking about here?"

"Follow me, Mr. Whitlock, you'll see," I replied as I pulled him into his bedroom.

**Stopping there…sorry, sorry, don't throw things out the screen; it never did anything to you! I just want to give the first Alice/Jasper love scene the respect it deserves.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey all! I wanted to get another chapter out before tonight, when I'm sure I'll be well on my way to giving myself one hell of an eye-melting, brain-hemorrhaging, puke-inducing hangover! **

**Happy New year to all!! See you in 2009!!!!!!!!**

I took Jasper's hand and he followed me into his bedroom. I spent the night here last night, but Jasper, being the traditional Texas gentleman, stayed on the couch again. I was determined to wake up tomorrow to his beautiful face.

However, I'm not sure how far I'm willing to go tonight. The wounds from James were still pretty fresh, and while I'm ready to move on in many aspects, I don't know if I'm ready for sex.

I made a vow to just give myself over to where my feelings led me. If it was still feeling right when it came down to the ultimate intimacy, then I wasn't going to fight it.

I kicked off my sandals and knelt on the edge of his bed, facing him. He stood close to me and placed his hands on my hips while I began unbuttoning his shirt, kissing the skin of his chest as it became exposed to me. Once I'd reached the last button, he shrugged the shirt off of his shoulders and let it fall to the floor behind him.

I could have never imagined his chest would be so well-defined. The lanky boy I assumed him to be was actually very strong and tanned. I ran my hands up his abs and over his chest until they rested on his shoulders.

I pulled him close to me for a kiss, and he promptly tightened his grip on my hips and pulled them closer to his groin.

Well, one thing was for certain—he was ready to go all the way tonight.

I nipped and sucked at his lips while his hands wandered to the waistband of my jean shorts and began teasing the skin near my pelvic region. His long, delicate fingers caressed their way from my hipbones towards my bellybutton and moved down. He unbuttoned my shorts and pulled the zipper down slowly.

I gasped against his lips as his fingers toyed with the lacy top of my panties. I leaned my forehead against his and dug my nails into his shoulders as his fingers trailed lower, stopping just before they past over my sensitive nub.

"Alice," he whispered. "Tell me you want this."

"I...I'm not sure," I replied. "All I know is I don't want you to stop what you're doing."

He chuckled softly as he bowed his head down to kiss the side of my neck.

"I'm glad to hear that. But, if you start feeling...uncomfortable, let me know. I don't want to do anything you don't want to do."

I took his face in my hands and returned his lips to mine. It felt right, kissing him like this. I could do this forever.

I let out another little gasp when his fingers reached even lower and began to brush back and forth against the very center of me. My hips involuntarily jutted forwards towards him.

"Oh Jasper," I moaned softly as he continued to stroke me.

One long finger thrust into me briskly and I let out a little yelp that elicited a chuckle from Jasper.

"Do you like that?" He asked.

"Yeah," I moaned, "Keep doing that."

"Yes ma'am," he replied as he added another finger to his ministrations.

He gently moved me backward until I was lying on his bed. I pulled my shirt over my head as he continued to bring me the most unbelievable pleasure. I unsnapped my bra and threw it aside so I could lavish a little attention on my already hardening nipples. I heard him suck in a quick breath and I opened my eyes to see him positioning himself between my legs.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"This sight before me…it's the most beautiful sight I've ever seen."

I felt tears prick at the corners of my eyes as he gazed at me lovingly. Why did it have to take me so long to find him? Why did I have to waste almost three years with James before this wonderful, amazing man entered my life? At least I know I've truly earned this relationship.

He stopped fingering me, but before I could protest, he began removing my shorts and panties with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

"Don't worry, darlin', I'm just trying to make it easier for me to love you."

I smiled and bit my lower lip as he threw the rest of my clothing to the floor and turned back to me. He returned my smile and winked at me before he took each of my legs by the ankles and placed both of my feet on each of his shoulders. He lowered himself until his face was near my core. I felt his tongue flick over my clit and my hips bucked up towards him.

"Whoa there, cowgirl," he laughed. "There'll be time for buckin' later."

His two fingers resumed their previous activities while his tongue flicked back and forth over my clit once more. I was so close to the brink that I was grabbing fistfuls of his fluffy, blue comforter and thrashing about like I never had before. James had never done this to me – too concerned with his own pleasure to worry about whether or not I was satisfied.

As my orgasm hit me, my spasms lifted my upper body completely off the bed.

"Oh my god!" I cried as I took handfuls of Jasper's hair in my hands, "Oh Jasper, that's so amazing!!"

I finally came down from my high and collapsed back on the bed. I felt something in my right hand and brought it close to my face to see – it was a clump of Jasper's hair. I shot up in panic.

"Oh god! Jasper, are you all right?"

"Yeah," he replied, "I'm fine…why?"

I showed him the lock of hair in my hand and he stared at it for a second before his left hand went instinctively to the back of his head.

"Wow…you were really goin' to town, weren't you, darlin'?"

"I'm so sorry," I said as I threw the hair aside and went to check out the spot on his head I must have pulled it from. "Does it hurt?"

"Actually, I never would have noticed if you hadn't showed me."

I gave him a skeptical look, "Really? Are you sure you're not just telling me that so I don't feel so bad about pulling your hair out?"

"I swear, kitten. This," he gestured to his head, "is nothing."

"Don't try to act tough," I said quietly, "That's such a turn off."

"Really?" He asked, "Would you rather I punished you for being such a bad girl?"

"Maybe," I replied with a smirk, "How, pray tell, would you go about punishing me, Mr. Whitlock?"

His expression got suddenly serious as he stood up and unbuttoned his jeans. He let them fall to his ankles, along with his boxers, before stepping out of them. I almost gasped audibly when I caught a glimpse of his rather large erection. My brain even made a cliché internal reference to everything being bigger in Texas.

He was definitely bigger than James, and I had a feeling our first encounter would hurt a great deal. I was wondering if that was the kind of punishment he had in mind.

"Are you OK, darlin'?" He asked. "You seem…concerned."

"It's nothing," I lied.

He looked down and bit his lip, "Do you want to keep going? I'll more than understand if you want to stop right now."

"To be honest, a part of me does," I admitted quietly. "But, I can't just leave you without some kind of relief."

I got back up to my knees and crawled towards him. Once we were face to face, I put my hands on his shoulders and guided him to the bed, making him lie back against the pillows. His brow was still furrowed like he wasn't sure what I was up to, so I gave him a salacious smile and lower myself until I was eye-level with his pelvis.

I took his cock in my hand and was about to lavish attention on it when his hands held me back by my shoulders. "No! You don't need to do that, Alice."

"I want to," I replied. "It's the very least I can do for you, considering that amazing climax you just gave me."

His hands didn't budge, "That doesn't mean you have to do this."

I released his throbbing erection and removed his hands from my shoulders, "If I didn't know any better, Jasper, I'd think you didn't want me to give you a blow job. And, I don't think I've ever met a man who didn't want a woman's lips wrapped around his cock."

My hand returned to his shaft and began moving up and down slowly. He sucked in a quick breath and tensed up as he lay back against the pillows.

"Trust me, I like a blow job as well as the next man," he assured me, "It's just I don't want one if the woman feels she has to give it out of some kind of debt to be paid."

I chuckled, "Haven't you ever heard about not looking a gift horse in the mouth."

He burst out laughing at my inadvertent pun, "How apropos, Ms. Cullen."

"Just shut up and enjoy," I said.

My eyes returned to his member – it was so swollen, I imagine it must have been uncomfortable for him. I flicked my tongue over the tip and smiled as his hips jerked slightly and his cocked twitched in my hand. I kept repeating the action slowly until he groaned at me.

"Please, Alice, stop teasing me."

"Hey, I'm the one in charge now, Whitlock," I replied. "And, trust me, this will all be worth it."

I continued caressing him lovingly. I ran my hands up and down his shaft, applying just enough pressure, while my tongue swirled around the head. I have become quite good at giving this kind of oral pleasure – I had to be. One bad blow job and James would respond with a sharp slap to my face.

Once I could feel him approaching his climax, I began taking more of him into my mouth while I gave some attention to his balls. I squeezed them gently and that was enough to send him into convulsions as that hot, sticky liquid began shooting into my mouth.

I pulled away while he came down from his orgasm. Out of the corner of my eye, I spied the door to his bathroom. While he was still preoccupied, I stood and walked into the bathroom to promptly spit the cum out into the toilet. I flushed it all away and rinsed my mouth out quickly.

That's certainly one thing I won't stand for in this new relationship – swallowing. It may sound childish, but James had a habit of making sure I swallowed every last drop of that nasty stuff. And, as much as I enjoyed giving Jasper head – something I don't generally like all that much – I'm not about to fall into that same pattern.

I walked back out to find Jasper still lying on the bed. His eyes were closed, but I don't think he was asleep. I tiptoed over and crawled onto the bed lightly – but, not lightly enough. He opened his eyes and smiled at me.

"Hey darlin'," he whispered as he wrapped me in his arms. "That was so amazing. Thank you."

I had to laugh a little at being thanked for a blow job. But, his eyes were so sincere – I wondered if that Maria had ever given him that much pleasure. I got some smug satisfaction out of imagining that what I had just done for him could, very likely, have been the greatest thing he's ever experienced.

We lay there together until he sighed and looked over at the clock. "Wow, it's almost two in the morning, kitten. We better got you to sleep if you're going to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for your folks tomorrow."

I nodded as he lifted us up and pulled the covers back so we could snuggle underneath. But, before he tucked us in, he got out of bed and appeared to be searching for something.

"What are you looking for?" I asked.

He moved to his dresser and pulled something out before turning back to me.

"I don't suppose you could wear this to bed, could you?" He asked, handing me a t-shirt.

"Why?"

"Well," he began nervously, "I think if you slept next to me naked, I would find it difficult to remain a gentleman."

I pushed myself up to a sitting position and put the shirt over my head before settling back into bed and holding my arms out for him. He had put his boxers back on and flashed his crooked smile before lying in my arms once more. He kissed my lips gently and brushed his nose across mine.

"Sweet dreams, my darling Alice," he breathed. "Tomorrow is a new day – the first day of forever."

I raised an eyebrow, "Forever? You sure about that? You may get sick of me."

"Never."

The next morning, everybody had planned to meet at Emmett's little townhouse in Aurora. Jasper and I made our way to my parents' hotel so he could drive them to Emmett's. Ever since their retirement, my parents invested in a pair of tiny convertibles – they had backseats, but not with much legroom.

Mom and Dad climbed up into the back of Jasper's Chevy and Mom short me a knowing glance. She was going to question me about what had transpired between Jasper and me last night. I was hoping I could cling to either Rose or Bella long enough to avoid that particular conversation.

When we walked in the door, we were greeted by Emmett's German Shepherds, Audrey and Helton.

Helton immediately approached me and jumped up to place his gigantic paws on my shoulders. Then, he proceeded to attack my face with his slobbery doggie kisses.

"Ah! Helton! Down!" I screamed as I pushed him to the floor.

I think Emmett made a point to get a pair of dogs who, when standing at full height, dwarf me by about a foot. Audrey walked over so I could pet her as everyone began gathering in the living room. Emmett and Edward were preoccupied with a game of Tiger Woods golf on Xbox as Rosalie played the hostess. I helped her get some drinks.

"Mom, Dad, what'll you have?" I asked.

"Iced tea is good for me," Mom replied.

"Got any Bud Lite?" Dad asked.

Mom turned to him, "Carlisle, it's not even noon yet."

"Oh come on, Mom," Emmett said, standing to stride over to a cooler he placed in the kitchen. He grabbed three Bud Lites and took them out for him, Edward and Dad. I cleared my throat behind him.

"Um, Em, you might want to ask if someone else wants one," I said.

"You're standing right next to the cooler," he retorted, "You want one, grab one."

"I meant Jasper," I replied.

"Oh," he said. "Hey, Jasper, you want a beer?"

"No thanks," Jasper said, giving me an appreciative smile, "I'll just have some iced tea."

The guys became engrossed in a baseball game after a while. Rosalie, Bella and I were in the kitchen chatting when Mom walked in.

"Hey Esme," Rosalie said.

"So, anything I can help with in here?" Mom asked.

"What do you mean?" Rose replied.

"Aren't we having dinner?"

"Oh…" Rose said. "We're just going to order pizza, actually."

"Oh thank god," Mom said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Carlisle hardly lets a day go by where we're not cooking or baking or whatever! We never go out anymore!"

We all laughed and continued to chat – Mom's gaze hardly left me the entire time. Finally, she turned to me.

"So, did you spend the night at Jasper's last night?" At least she was taking the straight-forward approach, that should make this easier.

"Yes, I did," I replied, sipping me tea.

"Has this been a regular thing?"

I looked to my friends to see if either one would save me, but both seemed just as interested in this information as Mom was. I sighed, "Not really, it's the third time I've done it, and he usually sleeps on the couch."

"So you and he aren't…?" Mom began.

"No, we haven't had sex, Mom," I hissed in a low voice.

"Just wondering," she replied. "I mean, he's a wonderful young man. And, after what you've been through, I wouldn't blame you."

Rose and Bella nodded in agreement. I chuckled and shook my head.

"Well, I suppose you're not curious about Bella and Edward then, hmm?" I asked Mom.

She shot a look at Bella, "Really? You're finally making an honest man out of my Edward?"

Bella nodded with a smirk.

"WHAT??!" I cried, "How come she gets that and I get the third degree? That's not fair."

"We're more protective of you for obvious reasons, Bella," Mom said.

"I guess that's true enough," I said. "Just, make sure Dad doesn't end up hassling Jasper too much, please?"

"Will do, Babygirl."


	6. Chapter 6

***************

"Miss Cullen? Stay with me...you're going to be alright..."

I've become unable to separate the past from the present at this point. I believe my brain is protecting itself from the harsh reality of my current predicament by reliving my better days. So, I choose, for now, to remain in the past.

***************

The day of the hearing was probably scariest of my life. My parents, who remained in Boulder to lend their moral support, stood on either side of me while my brothers walked just behind and in front of us — creating this cocoon of safety for me.

Jasper was just standing next to Emmett, to my back left, and every now and then I would turn my head slightly to see him in my peripheral. He gave me a reassuring smile and wink every time.

The hearing was over in a surprisingly short amount of time, especially considering the big build-up leading into it. We sat in the courtroom — me at the prosecution's table, James at the defense — and presented our respective cases. The assistant DA talked about my ordeal with James, showed photographic evidence of the abuse and talked to the officers who carried James away from our office last week.

The case was so strong, she didn't even call me to the stand.

James' lawyer, however, made me sit up there and answer his questions. Most tried to paint me as a liar only out to ruin the reputation of an upstanding young man like James. Really? That was the route they were going to take? They didn't have a prayer!

It didn't take the judge long to decide a restraining order was most definitely necessary, and informed James if he came within 500 feet of me, he would go to prison for at least 90 days.

A part of me didn't believe that punishment would deter James in the least. Though, I would never guess how right that part of me was.

After the hearing, Mom and Dad insisted on taking everyone out to a big, early dinner at Flagstaff House. What is it with my family and friends needing to celebrate these dubious achievements? But, who am I to deny my parents anything?

We were all piling into Emmett's Jeep when things began to go awry. Jasper was standing behind me, a hand protectively on my lower back, when he was pulled away and thrown to the ground – I could hear the sound of his head smack against the pavement. Before either Edward or Emmett could react, I felt myself being lifted into the air and pulled away from my family at an alarming speed.

I turned to find I was being held captive by one of James' friends, Felix — a former offensive lineman for the Buffs who I had heard was thrown off the team for steroid use. He held me like I weighed no more than a football and charged away, towards a black SUV sitting just across the lawn of the courthouse.

The more I attempted to bash the brute's skull in with my tiny fists, the more determined he became. He threw me into the SUV as my brothers gave chase on foot. They were within ten feet of the car when the driver took off. I finally noticed James was seated next to me, a sadistic grin on his face.

"You thought you could escape me?" He asked as he scooted himself closer to me. "Are you out of your fucking mind?"

"No...but apparently you and all of your little cronies here have lost it," I retorted. "You think you're going to get away with this?"

"Oh, that's not the point of this little exercise," he said. "You see, Felix and Marcus have nothing to worry about—their families practically own Boulder and are willing to send them off to Venezuela after we're through here; you know, for safe keeping and such. You see, Alice my darling, I figure if I'm going to be sent to prison for breaking that stupid restraining order, I'm going to do it right."

"What do you mean?" I asked as my hands started to shake.

"I'm going to make sure that little boyfriend of yours is only left with memories of what could have been," he replied.

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me close to him, "I hate to sound so cliché, Ali-Cat, but I thought by now you would have realized if I can't have you...no one can."

Every survival instinct in my subconscious seemed to come to life then. I took my free hand and jabbed my fingers into his eyes with a speed I didn't know I had in me. It stunned him, but not enough to let me go, so I bit his hand until I tasted blood and his grip was finally released.

Marcus, the driver, pulled over then to try and grab me, but only provided ample opportunity for me to reach for the door. I was just lucky that a dimwit like Marcus wouldn't have thought to implement the child safety locks. I threw the door open and found myself in a random neighborhood that seemed eerily deserted. I had left my purse with Mom, so I didn't have a cell phone to let them know where I was, so I just started running, hoping I might happen upon someone out in their yard.

Block after block I ran, my heels kicked off back at the beginning of my journey, but no one seemed to be home. I chanced a look behind me to find Marcus a few blocks back, not able to keep up but still in hot pursuit.

Suddenly, that deadly, black SUV seemed to come out of nowhere and charge towards me.

I didn't have to take a closer look to know it was James behind the wheel — trying to finish his maniacal mission. I saw someone's back gate open and made a sharp detour to get out of the open. I still didn't see anyone home, so I kept running. I even hopped over fences in an attempt to evade my pursuers.

I found a hiding place in a cove of bushes next to a dark, brick-covered house and waited. Maybe I could stay here until James and Marcus realize their searching is fruitless and leave. My feet were already caked in mud and blood and I just crouched against the outer wall of the house, praying whoever lived here would be home soon.

I closed my eyes and tried to catch my breath when I felt a hand on my shoulder—I let out the most blood-curdling scream of my life and took a swing at whoever had a hold on me. I was about to make a run for it when, through my haze of panic, I noticed I had just knocked out a short, bald man in a bathrobe. It must have been the owner of the house come to check on the crazy girl hiding out in his bushes.

I stooped over him and tried to wake him up when I heard the sound of a car turning onto the street. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the man's door was hanging wide open and ran for it. I shut the door and locked it without a second thought and ran for the phone. I dialed for the police and began sobbing as the dispatcher answered my call.

"Ma'am, you'll have to calm down," the woman said. "I can't understand what you're saying."

"I'm being chased by two maniacs who want to kill me," I said, finally able to keep my voice even.

"OK, ma'am, where are you right now?"

I realized I didn't even know what street I was on, so I frantically searched the house for a piece of mail with the address on it. I found the man's Comcast bill and read the address to the dispatcher.

"Alright, I have a unit on its way over to you right now," she said. "Just make sure you lock all the doors and windows and don't let anyone in until the police get there."

"Thank you," I cried before hanging up.

It was silent in the house, save for my ragged breathing, until a knock resounded in the front hallway. That couldn't be the police, I thought with a sudden rush of panic, there's no way they could have made it here that fast. I stood where I was as another knock echoed through the house, followed by the chimes of the doorbell. I was too afraid to even breathe at this point.

"Excuse me!! Young lady, you've locked me out of my house!!" It was the man I had just sucker punched and left on the lawn.

I ran to the door then and threw it open to find the man standing there with his bathrobe covered in mud. His left eye now sported a nice, developing shiner.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," I cried as I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the house. "I wasn't thinking...I assumed you were one of the guys chasing me."

"Uh-huh," he said as he removed his arm from my grasp. "Well, I didn't see any guys out there, but I do believe there's a very crazy young woman trespassing in my house at present."

"NO! There are two guys in a black SUV chasing me," I countered. "Please, you've got to believe me."

"Save it for the cops, girlie," he replied as he turned for the kitchen.

"They're already on their way," I retorted. "I called them as soon as I got inside."

"Good," he said. "Then they can haul your crazy ass off to jail. But, I'd really prefer if you waited outside."

"I can't!" I screamed. "Why aren't you listening to me? There are people trying to kill me!!"

"That's it! I've heard enough!" He yelled and grabbed my hand.

He pulled me to his front door, he was surprisingly strong for being a short, old man. He opened his door and tried to push me out, but he then noticed the tall, blond man with the crazy, bloodshot eyes standing before us.

"Oh, thank you mister," James said. "I've been trying to find her."

"NO!!" I screamed as I yanked my arm out of the man's grasp and ran towards the kitchen again.

I heard James push the man out of the way as he chased me around the house. I threw chairs and lamps in his path, but they barely disturbed him as he ran after me. I made my way to the sliding glass door when he finally caught me and took me around the waist.

"LET ME GO!!" I screamed as I thrashed about, attempting to make contact with my feet and fists.

My hand finally connected with his solar plexus and he dropped me on the kitchen table. I scrambled towards the counter to find a set of knives and pulled out a long, serrated weapon to wield. I made slashing movements at James, silently warning him to stay back, but he just grinned and walked slowly towards me.

"You won't hurt me, Ali," he taunted. "You don't have it in you."

He reached a hand up and I finally lost my cool completely. I swung the knife and cut through the flesh of his forearm. He recoiled and leaned up against the fridge.

"You crazy bitch!! You fucking cut me!!"

"And there's a lot more where that came from, asshole!" I screamed as I reared my hand back to take another swing.

But, before I was able to slash him again, the sound of a gun being fired resounded with deafening fury. I dropped the knife and saw the little man standing there with an old-fashioned revolver in his hand that was pointing towards a hole he just made in his own ceiling. He pointed the gun at me then.

"That's enough, girl," he said. "I think he's learned his lesson."

I nodded and slowly, shakily began walking towards the man. I was halfway between him and James when I was halted by the pull of an arm and the feel of cold, wet steel against my neck. Dammit, how could I let my guard down again?

"Thank you, sir," James said as he held the knife even tighter to my throat. "Now, I assume the police are on their way, and when the police get here, you need to tell them that the call was simply a false alarm and there is nothing wrong here. Do you understand?"

"Why should I do that?" The man asked, still pointing the gun towards us.

James chuckled humorlessly, "If you don't, this bitch dies."

I think it was at that moment when the man fully realized what was going on. He began to lower the gun and nodded in the affirmative to James' request.

"NO!" I screamed, "He's going to kill me anyway! Please, you have to help me!!"

There was a knock on the door, followed by a voice stating the police were present. The man placed the gun on the counter and walked down the hall. I went to scream again, but James' hand covered my mouth.

"You scream, I slit your fucking throat here and now," he taunted.

We listened to hear what the man told the police.

"What seems to be the trouble officer?" The man asked.

"We received a call of a domestic disturbance at this address," the officer said. "Dispatch stated a woman called from this number and said she was being chased by two individuals. And, we have been informed that this woman is most likely Alice Cullen, who was kidnapped about an hour ago outside the Boulder County Court house."

"Oh..." the man replied. "Well...there's no one here."

"Sir, the suspect's black SUV is parked on the other street and there are bloody footprints leading into your house," the officer said. "I'm going to have to ask you to move aside so we can search."

James tensed up and seemed to be plotting his next move. Out of desperation, he pulled me towards the hallway and put us in plain view of the officers.

"OK, this is what we're going to do," James said. "I'll be taking little Alice here for a drive, and if any of you tries to stop me, I cut her pretty little throat. Any questions?"

"You're not leaving this house," the officer at the door said. "It would be best if you just give yourself up now."

James laughed, "What are you going to do to stop me?"

I felt his arm being ripped away from me then and I was pushed forward. I fell into a fetal position and stayed that way until someone lifted me up and took me out of the house. I kept my eyes squeezed shut until I heard someone trying to speak to me.

"Miss Cullen? My name is officer DeBarris...are you alright?"

I opened my eyes to see a man with a mustache and a few bits of gray hair gazing at me with concern.

"I'm fine," I said.

"Are you sure? Does anything hurt, do you think you might have broken or sprained anything?"

I shook my head, "My feet hurt, that's it."

He checked the underside of my feet where most of the blood had now dried and mixed with the mud to form a kind of crude, protective sole.

I was taken to the Boulder County Hospital, where they cleaned and bandaged my feet. My family was all anxiously waiting to see me, but the doctors said I needed some rest after the shock of the afternoon. I ate some of the awful hospital food — made slightly more edible considering how hungry I was — and took a nice, long nap.

My dream started out turbulent – James was chasing me again and had me cornered in that man's house again. Instead of the knife, he was armed with something to garrote me with. I was trying to fight him off when he suddenly just disappeared. He was replaced with Jasper who took me into his arms and soothed me by stroking my hair and repeating "it was just a dream, Ali…shhhh…it was only a dream."

My eyes shot open and I focused on the face of my mother, the real culprit behind the hair-stroking. She smiled at me with tears in her eyes and kissed my forehead. "Hello, Babygirl, how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," I said. "A little thirsty, though."

She grabbed my cup of water and aimed the straw at my mouth. I took a long pull before licking my lips to relieve some of their dryness. My Dad stood on the other side of me and leaned over the bed to kiss my cheek.

"My little Ali-Cat, I can't believe what you've been through today," he whispered as he took my hand.

"Hey, I'm a Cullen," I replied. "I could survive the Apocalypse."

He smiled and patted my hand one last time before setting it on the bed. He looked up towards the window and I followed his gaze to find Edward, Emmett and Jasper looking into the room like sad puppies staring out of a pet store window. I chuckled, "I think the boys want in."

"Well, let's let the boys in and go grab some coffee, Esme," Dad said as he took my mom's hand and led her out of the room.

My brothers and Jasper walked in and remained quiet for a few painful moments until I cleared my throat, "So, how's it goin'?"

Not even one smile? Damn, tough crowd.

All three of them just stared at me with expressions that seemed to display a mixture of concern, sadness, deep-seeded hatred with just a glimmer of happiness around the edges. Well, at least there was something positive there.

"Will one of you please say something?" I asked.

Edward sighed and sat in the chair to my left, "What do you want us to say? We're sorry? We screwed up? We couldn't save you from that bastard?"

"Is that why you all are acting like the family dog just died? Seriously? It wasn't as if I expected you all to get Jack Bauer on his ass and swoop in and save me! There was nothing you could do!"

"We could have protected you better," Emmett countered, his voice breaking ever so subtly. "We could have been more alert, we let our guard down and that maniac got his hands on you."

"And I did nothing," Jasper added quietly. "That asshole threw me to the ground as if I was a rag doll and I just laid there and let him get away."

"Jasper, you hit your head on the sidewalk," I yelled. "Please, will you all stop this moping? I'm fine! And James and those guys are never going to get to me again."

They all still sat there, staring at the floor. I was getting fed up with this bullshit. "Fine! You know what, if you all can't stop sulking, then why don't you all just leave?"

"Alice," Edward whined.

"No, I don't want to hear it," I said, I was beginning to get emotional. "If I don't seem some Goddamn smiles on those Goddamn sour faces, then you all can just get the fuck out!!!!"

I started bawling and put my face in my hands as all three of them rushed me and tried comforting me. Unfortunately, my little temper tantrum sent my EKG machine beeping uncontrollably and the nurses rushed in and shooed everybody out. Once I was calm again, I looked to the window to find Jasper standing there staring at me. He put one hand against the glass and mouthed, "I'm sorry…I love you."

I smiled slightly and waved him back into the room. He closed the door behind him and sat in the chair closest to me. I shook my head at him and scooted myself over, patting the bed next to me. He smiled, "I don't know if I'm allowed to do that."

"I said so," I replied. "I'm in charge now."

He stood up and lowered the arm on the side of the bed so he could slide into place next to me.

"How's your head?" I asked.

"It's fine…I've had worse."

I didn't want to delve into what he could mean by that; I just rested my head on his shoulder and snuggled close to him as I felt another wave of fatigue hit me. Before I drifted off to sleep again, I whispered, "Hey, by the way…I love you, too."

Luckily, my feet didn't need any stitches, and I was back on them a day later. Though, it wasn't like I was ready to spend my whole Saturday out clog-dancing or anything. I had almost officially relocated to Jasper's apartment over the past week, and he woke me up Saturday morning with breakfast in bed and then set me on the couch for a day off my feet. He put a lot of thought into the day – even Netflixing my favorite old movies, like _Breakfast at Tiffany's_, _Singing in the Rain_ and _Tammy and the bachelor_.

He set a ton of pillows behind me and rested my feet on his lap. He had been changing my bandages for the past day and getting me painkillers when I needed them. We were halfway through _Singing in the Rain_ when I dozed off. It was probably due mostly to the way Jasper was massaging my calves gently. When I opened my eyes back up, he was taking the DVD out of the player and putting the next movie in.

"You know," I said softly, but still startling him a bit. "You don't have to keep the movie marathon going all day. We can watch some Sports Center if you want."

"Actually," he said sheepishly, "I really like this movie."

The beginning credits for _Tammy and the bachelor_ started up, and I put a hand over my mouth to suppress a laugh. He narrowed his eyes and smirked at me as he sat back down and put my feet back in his lap. "Go ahead, laugh if you want."

"No, I'm not laughing at you," I said, my voice a bit too shaky to be convincing.

"Uh-huh," he said. "Well, I bet I can make you laugh."

His right hand traveled up my leg to my hip where he tickled me lightly. I jumped slightly, but tried to keep myself under control. That strength lasted until his hand brushed against the side of my ribs – the most sensitive area of my body. The yelp that escaped my lips was so high-pitched, it even hurt my ears. Jasper, however, was more determined than ever to tickle me senseless.

"Stop! STOP!" I squealed. "Please, I'll do anything!!"

"Anything, hm?" He mused as he ceased tickling, but kept his hands on my ribs. "Now, be careful kitten, there are a lot of things I'd like to do to you."

"Anything but tickling, please!" I said breathlessly.

"OK," he replied in a whisper as his head bent down to place his lips on mine.

His hands left my ribcage and made their way to my back, pressing my body close to his to deepen the kiss even further. My heartbeat accelerated as my hands got tangled in his hair. For the past week, apart from the time I spent in the hospital, we'd spent our nights in his bed just holding each other close and kissing so sweetly, so passionately. But, I knew we were both aching to take things to the next level.

The only problem was fate seemed determined to keep us from making any progress in that area. And today, unfortunately, would be no exception – as soon as I felt his warm, soft hands brush under my shirt and begin to lovingly massage my breasts, there was a knock at the door.

Bella and Rosalie had brought pizza, ice cream and a stack of fantasy DVDs – _Labyrinth,_ _Legend_, _The Never-ending Story_ and _Mirror/Mask_. And we all fell asleep in the living room watching the movies.

I woke up around 2 a.m. and saw Rose and Bella sleeping on Jasper's gigantic pillows in front of the TV. Jasper was still under my legs, and my stirring seemed to wake him up.

"Are you OK?" He whispered, "Do you need another Vicodin?"

"No, I'm fine," I said. "Is your lap OK? Have your legs fallen asleep yet?"

"They'll survive," he smiled as I leaned over to kiss me.

I nibbled on his lip a little before pulling away, "Tomorrow night…I promise."

**Let your imaginations wander on that last statement…until next time…**

**And, to answer any questions that may arise in reviews, yes, that first section was in present times. Alice is remembering all of this in a flashback while going in and out of a coma.  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**Stay tuned for an important author's note at the end of this chapter  
**

Rosalie and Bella woke up early the next day and made me waffles with bananas and strawberries. I wolfed them down as we watched TV. Jasper excused himself around 10 a.m., claiming he had to run some errands. I was pretty sure he was just giving me some time alone with my friends.

They left once I was finished with breakfast and I quickly decided to get to work making myself presentable for the day. The doctors told me I could remove the bandages once there was no longer any bleeding, so I took off the bandages and checked – no fresh blood that I could see. I rinsed them under the bath faucet and checked again, there was still no bleeding.

I washed the dirty water from the tub and then filled it up with some bubbles before stepping into the warm water and relaxing for a moment. Luckily, I had left some disposable razors here last week, so I lathered up with some soap and carefully shaved my legs before moving on to other areas I don't usually mention in polite company.

I washed my hair and rinsed it under the faucet before I heard the front door open. I jumped out of the tub quickly, almost slipping but able to catch myself at the last second, and dried off before Jasper called my name.

"Alice? Where are you, darlin'?"

"In the bathroom," I replied as I slipped my long t-shirt back on.

I toweled dried my hair as he opened the bathroom door attached to his bedroom and walked in with a big smile on his face. Without a word, he wrapped his arms around my waist and captured my lips roughly. He set me up on the counter and pressed our bodies close so I could feel just how excited he was. Show off! I already know he's quite well-hung!

After a few minutes, he seemed to get impatient and lifted me up so he could carry me into the bedroom. I panicked a bit at that point.

"Wait!" I said as he set me on his bed, "I wanted this to be special…I kind of had a whole day planned."

"Alice," he replied gently, "These things are better if they're not planned. It's the spontaneous nature of love-making that's so beautiful."

His lips trailed down my neck to my shoulder, and he tugged at the collar of my shirt so he could nibble playfully at my collarbone. I closed my eyes and let him take over as he moved down further to where my nipples made visible bumps through the material of my shirt. His tongue flicked over my left nipple, and the sensation was no less intense even with the cloth barrier. He nipped at the little bud with his teeth lightly before attaching his lips to my breast and suckling roughly.

I could feel my whole body tingling when he pulled away suddenly. I groaned in protest, but he had only pulled away to tug my shirt over my head and throw it to the ground carelessly.

"That's enough of that," he said as he tossed the garment aside. "Now, where was I?"

His lips found their way back to my nipple and I resumed my moaning as he teased my right nipple with one hand and let the other hand drift down towards the apex of my legs. One long finger dragged itself over the opening of my core lightly until I couldn't take it anymore.

"Jasper…please…" I moaned.

"Please what?" He asked with a chuckle that bordered on sadistic.

"Please…" I continued, but couldn't find the words – my brain didn't seem to be functioning properly. I decided to just show him what I wanted, so I grabbed his hand and forced his finger inside of me.

"Ohhhh," he said quietly, slowly stroking his finger in and out of me, "that's what you wanted? Yes, darlin', I can do that."

I tangled my hands in his hair to keep his lips pressed firmly to my breasts as he brought me to the most incredible orgasm. Just as I reached my breaking point, he bit my nipple roughly and it only seemed to add to the intensity of the climax. Just as my heartbeat started to return to normal, Jasper jumped off the bed and tore his cloths off. He went to his night stand where a box of condoms sat.

"Where did those come from?" I asked breathlessly.

"Remember that errand I had to run earlier?"

"You went out just to get that?" I asked.

"Well," he replied sheepishly, "I overheard you telling Bella you went off birth control, and I seem to remember a promise made yesterday of a carnal nature."

He pulled a condom out of the box and returned to bed. He rolled it onto his erection while I pulled the sheets back and settled into the middle of the bed. Jasper stretched himself on top of me and pulled the sheets back over us. He ran the tip of his dick over my entrance and I closed my eyes and dug my nails into his shoulders. When he finally, slowly eased every inch of himself into me, I let out the longest, loudest moan I think I've ever uttered.

"That good, huh darlin'?" He laughed.

"The best," I breathed.

We worked up to a good rhythm and my moans only got louder and longer. I wrapped my legs around his waist and started grinding my pelvis into his like there was no tomorrow. My hands moved from his shoulders to hair and grabbed handfuls of his golden locks. I knew I was entering dangerous territory here, considering last time I did this I pulled hunks of his hair out, but I couldn't help myself.

Jasper buried his face in the side of my neck so he could suck and nibble at the skin there. His hands were suddenly at my backside, his fingers dug into my ass as he quickened our pace even more.

"Oh my god! JASPER!!!" I screamed as my next orgasm hit me.

"Aw, fuck darlin'!!" He yelled just seconds later. "God, I love you so fucking much."

"I love you, too," I whispered as I let go of his hair – thankfully, I didn't take any of it with me this time.

We calmed down and he rolled us over so we could catch our breath. I slowly ran my hands over his face and through his hair as he rubbed my back. I stared into his eyes and saw such love there it made me want to cry. But, I also saw something there behind his eyes that I couldn't quite pinpoint – almost a look of smug satisfaction. It was something I had seen in James' eyes so many times, but I dismissed it as my mind playing tricks on me.

Jasper is most definitely not James.

After we took a quick breather, we moved out of the bedroom and took our activities to the rest of the apartment. Jasper's kitchen counter, coffee table and big, comfy couch all were christened over the course of the next four hours. In fact, we were still on the couch – me straddling him and riding while he egged me on, saying things like "whoa there, cowgirl, you sure you never done this before?" – when someone knocked at the door. I looked down at Jasper with a questioning expression.

"Hang on, I'm almost there darlin'," he said as he bucked his hips faster.

I moved faster as well, and we both tried our best to keep our screams of pleasure muffled as the person at the door knocked again.

"Alice? What's going on in there?" It was Emmett – why, oh why did it have to be Emmett?

I didn't know what to do; I jumped off Jasper's lap and ran into the bathroom. I turned on the shower and leaned up against the door as Jasper was left to face my brother on his own. I couldn't believe I would do something so cowardly, but I just couldn't face Emmett knowing he basically walked in on me having sex with my new boyfriend – a boyfriend I hadn't even really confirmed yet with my biggest, meanest brother.

I opened the door and peeked outside to find Emmett sitting on the couch; he already had a beer in his hand. He noticed me and waved for me to walk into the living room. I shook my head and shut the door again.

I jumped into the shower and scrubbed down my whole body, despite the fact I had bathed just hours earlier. I was just hoping that Emmett could be gone by the time I got out. After I dried off and slipped into a soft, cotton dress, I took a deep breath and walked back into the living room. Unfortunately, my oldest brother was still on the couch. And, to make matters worse, he was joined by my other brother.

They both sat there with Jasper, all just drinking beers and having a nice time. But, as I stood there just outside the living room I couldn't stop the blush from covering my face. My brothers were sitting on a couch I just had sex on – I wonder if they had any idea.

"Sit down, Al," Edward said.

"Yeah, sis, have a beer with us," Emmett chimed in.

I looked to Jasper, who didn't seem to be embarrassed by the situation at all. That made me relax a little bit, so I went to the fridge and grabbed a Harp's before walking back to sit on the edge of the couch.

After a while, I was able to relax enough to actually join the conversation. Jasper excused himself to the bathroom and as soon as he exited the room, my brothers turned to me with Cheshire cat grins – especially Emmett.

"Hey sis…what have you two been doing all day?"

I couldn't believe this shit – no yelling? No threats to kill Jasper and stuff his body into the back of Emmett's Jeep? They were actually smiling? SMILING? Was this supposed to happen? Were they just waiting for the right moment to strike?

"Oh, Em, you've embarrassed our baby sister," Edward replied when I didn't respond.

I sighed and took a sip of my beer, "Eddie, I'm beyond embarrassment when it comes to my brothers. I reached that point after my junior prom when you and Emmett met my date at the door with hockey masks and goalie sticks."

"Hey, I still maintain we were simply showing young Steven our Casey Jones Halloween costumes," Emmett countered.

"Uh-huh," I said with an indignant snort. "So, what's really going on here? Why are you two so cool about the Jasper situation?"

"Because he's a good guy," Emmett said.

"Yeah," Edward agreed, "And, after James you deserve to be happy. Plus, come on Ali, you're 25 – it's not like we assume you're a virgin or anything."

"Though, we are admittedly still a little creeped out to be so close to where you and Jasper were…you know…doing it," Emmett said with a shudder.

"You wanna be truly creeped out?" I asked, determined to break their cool façade. "Jasper and I totally had sex on this couch."

"EW!!" Both of my brothers practically flew off the couch and danced around the living room in a comical attempt to get the 'dirtiness' off them. I just sat back and laughed as Jasper walked back into the room.

"What did I miss?" He asked as he stood well away from my brothers. "I didn't realize it was the time on Sprockets when we dance…"

Wow…he quotes Dieter, too? He really is the perfect man.

Edward and Emmett finally calmed down enough to glare at Jasper, who promptly shot me a glance in response.

"What did you tell them?"

"That we had sex on the couch," I replied simply.

My brothers set their beers on the coffee table and continued staring menacingly at my boyfriend. I needed to throw out another distraction.

"Oh…we totally had sex on that coffee table, too," I said.

They grabbed their beers quickly and cleaned the bottles off with their shirts as if they were covered in cooties. Well, I guess in a way, they kind of were. Jasper wasn't as amused with the whole ordeal as I was.

"Ali, kitten, why are you telling your brothers these things?" He asked through a plastered on smile.

"Oh Jazzy, they already figured out we were having sex, I was just informing them _where_ we were having sex."

"Stop saying sex!" Emmett finally yelled. "God, that word sounds even dirtier coming out of my little sister's mouth."

"Look, let's just all calm down and watch some TV, OK?" Edward said.

He and Emmett went to sit back on the couch when they stopped. Emmett turned to me, "On exactly which part of the couch were you two…you know?"

I pointed to the spot and my brothers sat on the other end, as far away as they could get. I winked at Jasper and plopped down on the spot where, just an hour ago, we had been making passionate love. He chuckled before he sat down and threw his arm around me.

**Author's Note: OK guys, here's the deal – I've been getting some responses to this story that honestly have me a little worried about proceeding with the plot I've had in mind. Many of you seem to think Jasper is some kind of saint, when I said in the description that he's not going to turn out to be what Alice thinks at all. In fact, I had planned on making this pretty dark.**

**So, I have an important question for all of you; and I really, really want some replies to this. I don't usually ask for a great deal of feedback, but I'm honestly very torn here and I need to gauge how everyone feels.**

**The original idea was for Jasper to drive Alice to the suicide I alluded to at the beginning of the story. I wasn't planning on him being physically abusive like James, but mentally and emotionally abusive (and before you all get up in arms, yes, I know that any kind of abuse is equally as heinous)**

**So, the three possibilities here are: 1) Continue on the path I originally intended; 2) Alter the story a bit, and make Jasper less of an asshole in the long run; or, 3) Just give up on this story altogether and move on to my latest idea?**

**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!! LET ME KNOW!!!!!!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks for all the responses! I'm going to continue on with this story as I'd originally intended and see where things go. This is probably the first story I've written where I envisioned everything through to the very end. Most of the time, I just see where everything takes me**

Fall is starting to set in, and the changing of the seasons has always been one of my favorite aspects of living in Colorado. The leaves in the trees where turning a beautiful golden or burgundy color. I almost feel sorry for people who can't see this.

Jasper and I have been together, officially, for over a month now, and I haven't been this happy in so long. I finally introduced him to some of my musician friends, and my buddy Dave said he was looking for a good guitar player for his band.

It was a chilly Saturday night when Jasper and I went over to Dave's place to meet the rest of the band—Jesse is the bass player, Sully is the drummer and Dave is lead vocals and rhythm guitar. They are all super cool guys, and Jasper clicked with them right away.

They jammed through the night while I visited with the other guys' girlfriends. Two of the girls where the kind of stuck up, 'I'm-a-band-girlfriend-and-I'm-cooler-than-you' type of girls, but I've known Dave's girlfriend Freya for a couple years now and at least I know she's cool. That should make hanging out at gigs less awkward.

And, I could tell Freya thought so, too.

"I'm so glad to finally have someone to talk to," she said when the other two were occupied with a conversation about the best place to get a manicure. "Usually, when the wonder twins come over I just give them each a glass of wine and hope they leave me the hell alone."

I laughed, "You're nicer than I would be. I wouldn't even give them wine, I'd just tell them to sit in a corner quietly until it's time for them to go home."

Freya put a hand over her mouth to muffle her laugh, "I'll try that next time."

"I mean, come on, who do they think they are? The girls from Rock of Love or something?" I asked. "Please! Jesse and Sully are nice guys, but neither one is Bret Michaels."

"Yeah, but that's kind of a good thing," Freya said. "Would you want to be anywhere near Bret Michaels?"

"Good point," I replied.

We chatted some more as the guys went over their songs with Jasper. If it was possible, he impressed me even more with his musical ability—he picked everything up without any trouble at all. Man, he is just too perfect. After the guys wrapped for the night, the Fake-Bake Brigade (as Freya and I nicknamed them) whined to their boyfriends to take them out somewhere.

"We're bored," Sully's girlfriend said. "Let's go to the Purple Martini."

"Oooo, yeah," Jesses' girlfriend said. "I totally need an Apple-tini right now."

"Yeah, cuz the three glasses of my good Pinot Noir you just guzzled wasn't enough, was it?" Freya hissed in my ear.

I just shook my head and snickered, "At least they're leaving."

"You all gonna tag along?" Sully asked as he put his arm around his bleach blond blow-up doll girlfriend.

"Nah, man," Dave said as he strummed his guitar lightly, "I think we'll stay in for the night."

"How about you, Jasper?" Jesse inquired.

Jasper glanced at me and I shook my head quickly, "No thanks, I think I'll just stay here and go over the songs a little more."

Jesse and Sully shrugged before leading the girls out. Even after they shut the door behind them, I could still hear the sound of the girls' stilettos tapping against the wood floor in the hallway. Freya and I listened until we couldn't hear that annoying rapping anymore before we finally both let a few guffaws loose.

Dave chuckled at us, "Now, now, girls...don't be so catty. I'm sure what's-her-face and whatever-the-hell-her-name-is are very nice young ladies."

We all laughed out loud while Freya stood up to open another bottle of wine. I leaned my head back against the couch as Jasper came to sit next to me.

"You getting' tired?" he asked as he brushed my hair out of my face and kissed the tip of my nose.

"A little, I've had a couple glasses of wine so far."

"Only a couple?" He laughed.

"That's my story and I'm stickin' to it, sir," I replied.

Freya brought me another glass, and handed one to Jasper before heading back into the kitchen. Dave sat on the coffee table in front of me, still strumming his guitar. He looked up suddenly, "Hey! Whatever happened to that one guy? You know, that blond dick you used to date?"

Jasper and I froze and stared at Dave. I guess I haven't seen him in so long, and he's not one to read the Daily Camera.

"Oh...he's gone, long gone," I said quickly before taking another sip of wine.

"Good," Dave replied. "That guy was a massive tool."

"Why didn't you tell me that before?" I asked, staring now into the burgundy liquid in my glass. "I mean, if you didn't like him, why didn't you say anything?"

"Didn't really feel it was my place," he said with a shrug. "Besides, he seemed to make you happy...why? Did he do something to you?"

Freya walked into the now tense room and stopped dead in her tracks, "Who died?"

Jasper chuckled humorlessly, "It's nothin', we're just discussing the past. Anyway, why don't we see what mindless program is on TV tonight, shall we?"

Freya grabbed the remote and turned the TV on and we watched some old movie on TNT until I nodded off to sleep. I stirred slightly when Jasper lifted me up and put me in his truck, but the soft, rhythmic hum of the car on the road put me right back to sleep.

Once we were home again, Jasper snuggled up next to me in his bed. I should really say our bed, I guess, as I've officially been moved in for the past week. I set up some of my furniture, and what was left is now in Jasper's storage unit.

I had a bit of a headache when I woke up the next day. I guess I let the wine get to me a bit too much. Jasper brought me a glass of water and some aspirin, which I downed before dozing off again. I woke up a second time to the smell of hash browns and bacon. I opened one eye and saw Jasper walk into the bedroom with a tray in his hands. He gave me that devilish smile I couldn't resist.

"Sit up, darlin', I made you some hangover food."

"I'm not really all that hung over," I replied. "I just have a headache—no nausea or dehydration or anything else."

"Still, hangover's a hangover," he said as he placed the tray on my lap. "And besides, you wouldn't want all my hard work to go to waste, would you."

I was about to thank him for being so thoughtful when I took a closer look at the food on my plate—it was two oval-shaped hash browns and an bacon, egg and English muffin sandwich. "You just went to McDonald's, didn't you?"

"Hey, that's still hard work," he said. "I had to get in my truck and drive all the way to Baseline and back again. And, I had to deal with the usual idiots who work at a McDonald's."

"Aw, poor baby," I said, affecting my perfect pout.

He smiled and planted a sweet kiss on my lips. I scooted over so he could sit down beside me and fed him some hash browns. It was amazing how I could just enjoy a comfortable silence with him. With James, I always had to find something to talk about, or it felt awkward.

Then, I realized how I kept comparing him to James, and I really had to stop doing that. Even if all the comparisons worked out in Jasper's favor, it still wasn't fair to pit him against James.

Once I finished breakfast, he took the plate back into the kitchen and I jumped up to take a shower. I had just been standing under the hot water for about five minutes when Jasper opened the curtain on the shower and joined me. We didn't do anything more than hold each other and help scrub the other's back a bit, but it was still so very erotic to me.

So much so, in fact, that I was ready to go as soon as we got out of the shower. Jasper had barely finished drying off when I jumped him and wrapped my legs around his waist.

I would have been fine with remaining on the bathroom floor, but Jasper managed to get us back into the bedroom while I smothered his face and neck with kisses. I was adamant to get down to business, I wrapped my hand around his shaft and positioned the head towards my entrance. He grabbed my wrist and stopped me, "Wait…I think we need to get prepared first."

I sighed, "Next week, I'm going to the doctor to get back on birth control. I hate for you to have to go through this process every time."

He smiled and kissed my lips briefly before he leaned over to grab a condom.

Surprisingly, the three times we made love worked wonders on my headache. Usually, a hangover headache can make me want to do nothing but sit in front of the TV all day and veg, but as soon as Jasper and I got dressed, I was dragging him all over Pearl Street. I wanted to enjoy what would probably be one of the last warm days of the year, so I practically ran from store to store like I was high on some caffeine rush.

Once we hit American Apparel, Jasper finally grabbed me and made me slow down.

"Darlin', you're going to give me a coronary," he whispered as I looked over a pair of over-priced leggings. "And, I don't think you're going to want to drag me around for the rest of the day if I drop dead."

I snorted, "Like I'd carry your heavy ass. I'd just let the paramedics know where to find you and go hit Hapa."

"Thanks, darlin'," he laughed.

I was finally fully satisfied a couple hours later, just as I could feel my blood sugar starting to drop. My stomach started to gurgle as Jasper and I walked hand in hand. He chuckled at my predicament.

"Ready for that Hapa, or whatever the hell you said earlier?"

"You sure you wanna eat there? It's probably not food you're used to."

"Why?" He asked, "What is it?"

"…Sushi."

He made a face and raised an eyebrow at me, "Seriously? You like that stuff?"

"It's so good," I assured him. "And, you can get other kinds of Japanese foods there, too."

"Hey, whatever you want, darlin'."

I squealed with glee and grabbed his hand so I could drag him down the street to Hapa and pulled him inside. The waitress brought us some menus, and I immediately started checking off items I wanted.

"Let's see…I want a spicy salmon and a salmon avocado roll," I said. "And…some salmon, tuna and shrimp nigiri."

I lifted my head and was met with Jasper's bewildered expression, "You expect me to eat any of that?"

"Hell no, you get your own sushi," I replied.

"I ain't eatin' no raw fish," he protested, his Texas drawl thicker than molasses. He looked back at the menu and pointed at a word. "What's that?"

"Udon? It's a type of noodle," I said. "It's really good."

"Nah," he said, looking at the menu again. "I think I'll just have this Kobe ribeye."

"Well, you can take the boy out of Texas…" I said.

He grinned at me and told the waitress his order. I handed her the paper with my picks on it and she walked back to put our order in. Jasper took my hands and we both looked around at the people bustling around the restaurant. I was about to look back at Jasper when I noticed a guy bussing dishes two tables down from us – it was a guy named Jacob, and I hadn't seen him since high school.

"Oh my god," I whispered as I looked back at Jasper, "I know that guy."

Jasper looked where I was pointing, "The guy cleaning off the table?"

"Yeah, his name is Jacob, I went to high school with him," I said. "He was one of those guys who thought he was pretty badass."

"And now he's bussin' tables," Jasper said with a chuckle. "Pretty typical of guys like that."

"I wonder if he'd remember me," I mused as I looked back to see Jacob heading towards the kitchen.

The waitress brought our food out a little later. I got to making my soy sauce and wasabi dip while Jasper dug into his stake. I dunked one spicy salmon roll into the grayish-green mixture and stuffed the whole thing in my mouth. I practically moaned in ecstasy at the incredible flavors filling my senses.

I didn't realize I had closed my eyes until I swallowed the sushi and popped my eyelids open to find Jasper staring at me with his mouth agape, his fork just at his lips.

"Wow, I'd give anything to make you moan like that, darlin'," he said.

My face heated over as I realized I had just had quite the "When Harry met Sally" moment. Jasper chuckled as he chewed on his steak, and the look on his face was a bit too amused for my liking. I took a piece of salmon nigiri and dipped it in the wasabi and soy, then I lifted it to his mouth. He stared at it for a moment before shaking his head quickly.

"Not on your life."

"If you don't," I began slowly, "You get no sex for a whole week."

"Please," he scoffed, "You think YOU can go that long without sex?"

I smiled, "Gladly."

He looked like he was about to call my bluff again, but instead he held his nose and bit the sushi off of my chopsticks. He chewed the piece a couple of times and swallowed quickly, making the face one usually makes when taking a shot of whisky.

"It was not that bad," I said.

"That was…weird," he admitted. "It wasn't bad, per say, it was just slimy. I'm not used to slimy food."

"Well, it's not barbeque ribs, but it's still mighty tasty," I said.

"Meh…it'll do," he replied.

He paid the bill, despite my protests to go Dutch on this one, and we got up to leave. I approached the front of the restaurant when I was knocked over by someone in a hurry. A bus tub went flying with plates and glasses shattering to the floor, a piece of which cut the top of my hand.

"Ow," I yelled as I held my hand close to my chest.

"What happened? Are you hurt?" Jasper asked as he knelt down to see my hand.

I looked up to see Jacob in front of me, cleaning up the dishes that flew out of his bus tub. The owners came out of the back and began yelling at him – in Japanese, of all things. He surprised me a little by answering them back in perfect, fluent Japanese.

He finally looked down and met my eyes, "Sorry…ma'am."

"Sorry?" Jasper asked menacingly as he stood up. "You bet your ass you're sorry – one sorry piece of shit. Your dumbass just cut my girlfriend's hand, and all you can say is 'Sorry, ma'am?' You know what? Why don't I take you outside and teach you a little lesson?"

Jasper started to grab Jacob by the collar of his shirt and tried to march him out the door, but some of the other busboys stepped in and stopped him.

"Jasper, he's not worth it," I called from the floor.

The hostess was standing over me, trying to calm me down. She wrapped a napkin around my hand and tied it tight.

"There's an ambulance on its way," she told me.

"There damn well better be," Jasper said as he lifted me off the floor and set me on a nearby table.

"I'm fine, really," I said. "It doesn't even hurt…really…"

"Don't try to be tough," he said, imitating my voice. "It's such a turn off."

I tried to keep a straight face, but I just couldn't last. Especially as he tickled my sides lightly and I started squealing.

The ambulance took us to the hospital where, this time, I did have to get stitches. Once the doctor had cleaned my cut and stitched me up, he gave me a prescription for more painkillers and let me go. Jasper sat just outside my room and, when I walked out, he looked up at me and shook his head.

"Jeez, can't keep you out of the hospital, can I darlin'?"

"Hey," I countered, "I'll have you know I've been in plenty of hospitals, even before I met you."

He stared at me for a moment, before covering his mouth and chuckling.

"I guess I didn't make a very good case for myself, did I?" I asked.

He shook his head.

"Well, they gave me some more Vicodin, and I think it's kicking in now," I said.

"Come on, Courtney Love," he replied. "Let's get you home."

I leaned up against the window of Jasper's truck as he drove us home, I stared at the glass as my breath made little clouds of steam occasionally and chuckled to myself, "Cool."

He laughed gently from the driver's seat, "You're so funny when you're high."

"Hey," I said suddenly, "would you have really kicked Jacob's ass if all those guys hadn't stopped you?"

"Yes," he replied simply. "That idiot wasn't paying attention and he hurt you – I think that deserved an ass-whopping."

"Really? I mean, it wasn't his fault," I continued.

"Kitten, you're on meds right now, you don't know what you're saying," he said. "Just, try and go to sleep, OK?"

"OK," I agreed easily.

I dozed off and woke up the next morning to the sound of Jasper calling my name gently.

"Ali-cat? Darlin'? It's time for work," he said. "Do you think you want to make it in today, or do you want me to call Rose and tell her you're not feeling well?"

I shook my head, attempting to break myself out of the Vicodin induced haze, and looked at the clock – 7 a.m.

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" I asked. "I usually get up at 6:30."

"I think you should just stay home today," he said. "You've been through a lot – not just yesterday, but the past couple of weeks, as well. Think of it as a mental health day."

I settled myself back on the pillows and nodded, "You're right, I have been a bit flustered lately. Maybe a day on my own would be good for me."

He leaned over the bed and kissed me sweetly, "Sleep, darlin'. I'll be back around 4:30 or so. What do you want for dinner?"

"Hm…surprise me."

"Will do, kitten," he replied as he turned and walked out. He came back in with a glass of water and some more Vicodin. "Just in case your hand starts hurting again."

My hand was feeling a bit sore, so I took the pill and washed it down with the water. I fell back to sleep as I heard Jasper on the phone with Rosalie. I had strange dreams thanks to the meds, they were so vivid and colorful – like being inside a Dali painting.

The last dream I remembered hit a bit too close to home. I was back at Hapa with Jasper, and as I walked through the restaurant, the plates grew legs and jumped off the tables, shattering on the floors below. The shards of glass then took to the air and started dive-bombing me like angry little World War II airplanes.

I avoided the shards until I found myself trapped at the back of the restaurant. Then I was cut repeatedly by the glass – my arms, my legs, even my face was scarred by the pieces of glass.

I tried to call out for Jasper, but he was still at the front of the restaurant. He had Jacob by the collar of his shirt and was punching him in the face over and over again. He didn't hear my cries, and I ended up in a heap on the floor.

I woke in a cold sweat. Jasper was there, trying to sooth me. He held me close and calmed me down.

"Shhhh, I'm right here, darlin'."

It was easy to dismiss the dream as just a fluke, especially considering I'm very vulnerable to medication. Jasper handed me a bowl of warm tomato soup with a turkey sandwich on the side – one of my favorite comfort meals.

I gave him a kiss of gratitude before digging in. He ate on the tray next to me and we chewed our food in silence until he cleared his throat lightly.

"So, my mom called me today," he said. "She said she wants us to go down to Galveston for Thanksgiving. What do you think?"

"You want me to meet your family?"

He nodded. James didn't let me meet his family until we had been dating for more than a year. My heart was overcome with joy.

"I'd love to go down to Galveston for Thanksgiving."

"You sure?" He asked. "I don't want to pull you away if your family does anything special."

"They can survive without me for one holiday," I said.


	9. Chapter 9

**Wow, so I went from tons of responses to hardly any. But, fuck it, I'm continuing anyway...**

I was over the moon that Jasper wanted to take me down to Texas to meet his family. Plus, he said he's taking me to Houston to meet his old college friends. This was beyond just dating, this was a relationship.

And, I know I should have been a little bit worried that it was going kind of fast; but, I refused to let anything kill my joy. I was just counting the days until Jasper and I were to take our week off so we could fly down to Texas.

Even my Dad was excited for me—he's letting us use his frequent flier miles.

The day before we left for our little vacation, Rosalie took all of us out to lunch. And this time, she let Jasper pick the restaurant.

"You sure?" He asked as he and I sat in the back of Rose's little Prius. "Because I'd like some of that Mongolian barbeque."

"Jeez, what is it with you and barbeque?" Rose scoffed jokingly. "Kidding...I'm fine with that, really. I just want us all to have a nice lunch together."

We got to the restaurant and sat around a big table while the server went through the regular spiel of telling us how to go about getting our bowls of food. We listened patiently before rushing over to the little buffet line and getting our fixings.

Jasper and I loaded our bowls down with beef, chicken, sausage and just about every vegetable we could get our hands on. Bella and Rosalie created more lady-like bowls of mostly vegetables, and I couldn't help but laugh at them.

"Do you two ever just want to have a nice, big meal?" I asked.

"If either one of us could have the boundless energy you have so we could burn off all that food, then we might consider it one day," Rose replied. "Until then, get off our backs!"

Jasper chuckled and put an arm around me as we waited our turn to get our food on the giant grill. "I love a woman with a big appetite, darlin'."

He pressed his lips firmly to the left side of my neck before the guy turned to us, "whose next?"

I handed him my bowl and he quickly threw the contents on the grill before grabbing Jasper's bowl and repeating the process. While we waited, Jasper wrapped both arms around my waist and nuzzled my neck gently. I felt so safe and loved there.

He nipped at my earlobe lightly as the grill guy handed us our finished meals, "Here you go."

We thanked him and took our food back to our table where a pitcher of beer was waiting for us. I turned to Rose who was following close behind.

"Did they send this to the wrong table?"

"No," she replied. "We're celebrating here, we have to do it right."

I scowled at her, "You hate beer, you call it idiot juice."

"I can tolerate it from time to time," she said.

"Yeah, but we have to go back to work after this," I said. "Shouldn't we try to do that, you know, sober?"

"It's just a pitcher of beer, Al," Rose said. "We're not getting drunk."

Jasper held out my chair for me and I took my seat, I dug into the bowl of rice the server brought us and began chowing down on my food. This has to be one of the greatest ideas ever, Mongolian barbeque, how can something so freaking tasty be so good for you?

Jasper poured beers for everyone and Rosalie raised hers in toast.

"To friendship," she began. "To new friends, to old friends...and to one, happy couple."

"Here, here," Jasper said as he threw an arm around me and tapped his glass to mine.

I turned and planted a kiss on his lips after taking a quick sip of my beer.

"I love you," I whispered to him.

"I love you more," he replied softly.

It was Friday afternoon, and, though Thanksgiving wasn't until the next Thursday, we decided as a company to take a week off because our profit margin had been up 5 percent from the previous year.

"In this economy," Rose said. "That's definitely worthy of a reward."

Jasper and I flew out to Texas on Saturday morning and were met at the Houston airport by his parents, Charlotte and Peter.

"You must be Alice! It's so nice to meet you," Charlotte said. "I'm Jasper's mom, Charlotte, but please, just call me 'Momma!'"

"Um, OK," I said as she pulled me into her arms.

Jasper and his father piled the luggage into the truck while Momma Whitlock sat by me in the back of the king cab and asked me all about myself.

"Now, Jasper does talk about you a lot," she said. "But, I like to hear things straight from the horses' mouth...not that you're a horse, you're just a little speck of a thing, ain't cha?"

I let her do most of the talking, probably because I liked to hear her beautiful, twangy Texas accent so much. She was a lot like my mom; if Esme took uppers, that is.

We got to Galveston in a little under an hour and the ranch the Whitlocks owned was beautiful. It was certainly a departure from the rest of Galveston's aesthetic—which is mostly ocean-side, beach-style property. We were met by one of Jasper's little sisters when we drove up. Tanya is the baby of Jasper's family, just 19 and in her first year of college.

As soon as she was introduced to me, Tanya began talking my ear off, just like her mother. I told her a bit about myself, and then she started telling me about her future plans. She's hoping to follow in Jasper's footsteps and get a degree from the Art Institute of Houston. Though, she admitted, she's not sure what field she'll go into.

"I'd kinda like to be a pastry chef," she said. "I think I could be good at it, and I have a friend whose mom runs a wedding catering service. She said down here, weddings are big business."

"That's because so many girls get married straight outta high school," Jasper replied as his dad handed him a beer. "After they get knocked up, that is."

"Hey," his mom retorted, "I had you practically right outta high school, young man. Ain't nothin' wrong with that!"

"I know, Momma, I'm just teasin' you," he said as he kissed his mom on the cheek.

"Well now," Jasper's mom said. "I guess I'd better get dinner started. I bet you kids are gettin' hungry."

I stood up with her, "Oh, I'll help Mrs. Whit...I mean, Momma."

"Nonsense, sweetie, you just sit yourself on down," she said.

"I can't," I replied. "I hate sitting for too long."

"Ah, a girl after my own heart."

I followed her into the kitchen and she already had a pot of beans on from the morning.

"Pinto beans with a nice, big ham hock," she said. "One of Jasper's favorites."

I made a mental note of that as she showed me how to make fried okra and cornbread.

"I didn't use to put sugar in my cornbread," she told me as I put a skillet of the stuff in the oven for her, "But, my kids like it that way, so I keep on doin' it for them."

"Well, that's how we got to be so sweet, Momma," Jasper said as he walked into the kitchen. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head, "Learning a lot?"

"Indeed," I replied. "And, your mom is giving me some recipes to take home with me."

"Did she give you the strawberry cake recipe?" He asked in a whisper.

"I told you, you don't get that recipe until you get married, young man," his mom told us.

"Aw, come on, Momma," Jasper pleaded. "What if I told you Alice and I are getting married?"

"Really?" She asked excitedly.

My eyes just about popped out of my head as I turned to him, "What?"

"I'm kidding...I just really want that cake recipe," he said sheepishly.

Once his mom recovered from her shock, she playfully smacked Jasper in the head, "Don't do that to your poor momma."

"Sorry," he said. "But, come on, you should have known Alice and I aren't engaged. We've only been dating for a couple of months now."

"What's the hold-up?" She asked. "You don't have to know each other for years to get married, you know."

"You and Dad knew each other for five years before you got married," Jasper replied.

"So, it might be different for you two."

I remained quiet as Jasper and his mother debated the finer points of courtship length. Honestly, I wouldn't mind being married to him. He's sweet, he's loyal and he loves me. And, I'm officially, head-over-heels for him.

I think that's a good recipe for marriage.

I hadn't noticed I drifted into a daydream of me being led down the aisle in a white gown until Momma Whitlock brought me back to reality.

"Sorry, Alice honey, this talk of getting married must be making you nervous," she said.

"No, it's OK," I replied.

We sat down for dinner about the time Jasper's other sister, Kate, arrived. She had to drive in from Austin, where she works as a bar-tender and musician. I could tell right away she was the black-sheep of the family — she had short hair, even shorter than mine, that was died black and fire engine red; she had piercings in multiple places all over her face and tattoos that seemed to cover every possible inch of her body. At least, up to her face, that is.

She glanced at us all with amusement through her horned-rimmed, Buddy Holly glasses.

"Hello there, family," she said. "Who's this?"

"This," Jasper began, slightly annoyed, "Is my girlfriend, Alice. Alice, this is my sister, Kate."

"It's nice to meet you," I said.

"Oh good, she has a brain," Kate replied as she shook my hand.

"Totally," I said, "Just got one from the wizard last week."

She stared at me for a second, as if to gauge whether what I had just said was sarcasm or not. Then, she let a laugh escape her lips.

"I like you...and I don't like anybody."

"Thanks, I guess," I said.

We sat down to eat, but Kate didn't touch anything. I gave her a questioning look.

"I already ate," she said. "I'm a vegan."

I nodded, "Nice."

"Nice to know I don't have to explain that to you," she said. "'Round these parts, people think that's some kinda weird religion."

"I'm from Boulder," I said. "We have almost as many vegans as we have prairie dogs."

She laughed, "Didn't rub off on you though, huh?"

"Nope," I said as I scooped up some pinto beans with my fork.

I saved my cornbread for last and put some honey and butter on it. As I savored every delectable morsel, Momma Whitlock brought out a big, pink cake, which I assumed was the strawberry cake Jasper had mentioned before. I stared at the treat hungrily, but my stomach wasn't so sure it could handle that much food.

"Alice honey, you want some cake?" Momma asked.

"Um...sure, why not?" Well, stomach, you're just going to have to deal. If need be, we'll get some Tums later.

I was glad I agreed to the cake, though, it was so delicious. My mom is partial to making red velvet cake, and I'd never even heard of strawberry cake before. But, it was possibly even better than Mom's – though, I'd never let Esme know that.

After I finished every crumb of my cake, Jasper led me to the family room where his parents and Tanya were watching TV. I sat on a couch next to him and tried to focus on the show, but the strain of travel and the effects of the good, rich foods finally took its toll on me. I was out in under an hour.

I was in the beginning of a dream concerning Jasper and his big, comfy bed when someone nudged my shoulder.

"Ali-Cat," Jasper whispered. "Let's get you to bed, darlin'."

"'K," I replied sleepily as he lifted me off the couch.

He took me up the stairs and opened a door; he carried me across the room to place me in an incredibly soft bed. I was just snuggling into the covers when I heard Jasper's mother's voice from the door.

"Jasper, why did you put her in here? We have a guest room," she said.

"I know, I'll stay in the guest room, Momma," he said. "My bed is softer, and I want Alice to stay here."

"OK," she said.

I heard her footsteps sound lightly down the hall before Jasper bent over and kissed me on the temple.

"Don't worry," he whispered, "I'll be back later."

Sure enough, as soon as I had worked myself back into a good, steady REM cycle, I felt the mattress bow beneath me. Jasper curved his body around mine as he eased himself into bed with me. I wouldn't have taken much notice to this, except he had decided to crawl into bed with me naked.

I turned my face towards him, "Jas…where are your clothes?"

"On the floor," he replied as he nibbled on my ear. "I think you should follow my lead."

"But…aren't your parents, like, three rooms down?"

"We won't wake them," he said. "When I was in high school, my band used to practice here until really late at night. If my parents could sleep through that racket, they can sleep through anything."

I felt his hands tug at my panties; he managed to work them down to my mid-thigh before I turned over and slid them off the rest of the way. He pulled my shirt over my head before pulling me closer to him and wrapping my legs around his waist.

I was thankful, then, that I had remembered to get a new prescription for my birth control, because Jasper plunged into me and started thrusting swiftly. I bit my lip to keep from moaning too loud, but I couldn't stop the whimpers emanating from my chest as he lowered his head and took my left breast into his mouth.

The fingers of my left hand dug into his shoulder as my right hand clenched at his sheets violently. After a while, I started to taste blood in my mouth from biting down on my lip too hard. I turned my face to the right and found a piece of pillow to chomp down on instead.

Jasper lifted his head back up to the left side of my neck and bit on a chunk of pillow himself as he came, grunting loudly like he always does.

It didn't take either of us very long to fall back to sleep after that. He wrapped me in his arms tightly and told me he loved me.

"I love you, too," I replied.

"Forever?" He asked.

"Forever."

The next morning, I awoke to the smell of something delicious downstairs. Jasper had already gotten up for the day, so I put my pajamas back on and walked down to the kitchen.

Momma Whitlock was cooking up bacon, potatoes and something green – it looked gross, but it smelled wonderful.

"That's my homemade, pork green chili," she said. "Secret family recipe."

Kate was sitting at the table reading the paper, "Please, she got it off of her mom's old housekeeper."

"OK, Michael Moore, you here to start trouble?" Momma asked as she stirred the chili.

"Please," Kate replied, rolling her eyes, "How do you expect anybody to believe a bunch of white people have a secret family recipe for green chili?"

I kept myself out of the argument and poured myself a cup of coffee, "Where's Jasper?"

"He's helping his daddy do a few chores this morning," Momma said. "It's nice having our boy home."

I smiled as I turned and sat down at the table with Kate. She looked at me over the paper and smirked, "How'd you sleep last night?"

Her voice was thick with implications. I feigned ignorance, though.

"Fine," I said.

She set the paper down, "Uh-huh…let's not beat around the bush here, how is he?"

"Do you really want to know the answer to that?" I asked.

She nodded, "I've asked every girlfriend he's had since high school, and none of them have had the guts to tell me. This leads me to believe my brother must be something of a dud in the sack."

"He's not," I replied. "He's quite good."

"Did he give you the whole 'my parents can sleep through anything' line?"

I nodded, "Is that true?"

"I have no idea," she replied. "They didn't seem to notice last night."

"Oh, we hear everything, girls," Momma announced. "We just choose to ignore."

I felt my face heat to an unbelievable degree as I realized what that meant – I just met my boyfriend's mom yesterday, and she's already heard us having sex. Somebody just shoot me now, please?

Momma set a place of bacon and sausage on the table and gave me a wicked grin, "Don't be all bashful, Miss Alice. You don't think I assume my boy's a virgin, do you?"

I shook my head, "That still doesn't mean I'm less embarrassed about people hearing us."

"Hey, at least you're not a howler," Kate said as she pushed the plate of dead animal even further away from her with a disgusted expression.

Tanya came in and grabbed a piece of bacon, "Who's a howler?"

"No one," Kate and Momma said in unison.

Kate winked at me as Tanya walked away, "Don't feel bad, at least Momma didn't knock on the wall last night and tell you two to shut up."

"Gee," I began sarcastically, "That makes me feel so much better."


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry it took me so long to get to this chapter, but I've been really, really into my story "Imitating Art." If you haven't checked it out, I implore you to do so!**

**Anywho…Here…We…Go… (Sorry, that was in honor of Heath Leger's posthumous Golden Globe win)**

The day after Thanksgiving, Jasper and I borrowed his dad's car and drove up to Houston to meet his best friend, Trey. Back during their high school and college days, the two of them started a band called Slow Knife, which Trey still fronts with a new lineup.

We rolled into Houston around noon and met up with Trey at a little barbeque joint called Otto's. Trey was exactly as I'd pictured him from Jasper's stories – tall and lanky with long hair pulled back into a ponytail. He completed his look with torn jeans, multiple piercings and tattoos that covered both his arms in full sleeves. Yeah, I'm thinking there's little else this guy could do besides be in a band – well, maybe work at a tattoo parlor.

I went to shake his hand when Jasper introduced me, but instead he brought my hand up to his mouth and kissed it.

"Pleasure to meet you, Alice," he said in a sultry southern drawl.

"Easy there, Trey," Jasper scolded playfully. "The lady is spoken for."

"I know, but it doesn't mean I can't appreciate a beautiful woman," Trey replied.

I gave him a smirk and a shake of my head before following the guys into the restaurant. As we sat down to eat, Trey noticed some people he knew at the bar and called them over. Apparently, Jasper knew all of these people, too. They chatted with them for a bit as I quietly sat drinking a diet soda. It was really interesting to see Jasper amongst his old friends, it brought out a side of him I'd never seen before – it was what I'd come to know as Cool Jasper.

His old friends invited him to play a little gig with them that night, and I was excited to get to see him in action – he's yet to play a real gig with Dave's band. We spent the rest of the day hanging out with Trey. The guys showed me the sights and I had to admit I was impressed with Houston. It's huge! Other than this, the only big city I had ever been to was L.A., but I never got to see much of the city. I expected to see mostly rednecks with big trucks, but I was surprised with how diverse the city was; Denver definitely doesn't have anything on Houston.

I was actually a little tired by the time the band's gig rolled around, but I didn't want to miss it so I grabbed a couple of Red Bulls to get some energy back. The place they were playing was a little dive but it was the type of place I love to see shows – where the drinks are cheap but the music is good and loud.

I was introduced to one of the band member's girlfriends and sat at the bar with her while the band tuned up. The girl's name was Courtney, and she was nice enough. We chatted about what we both did for a living – she was a stripper and seemed very impressed when I didn't look down on her for her profession. Hey, a girl's gotta make a living somehow, right?

We decided to hang back near the bar once the band had started, since the stage would be crowded with either drunks or groupies, Courtney said.

I turned to her with a raised eyebrow, "Don't you ever worry about all those girls throwing themselves at your boyfriend?"

She shrugged and shook her head, "They can stand up there and flirt with him all they want. My man knows where he gets his lovin' from. Why? You worried about Jasper up there?"

"No," I said quietly, "He's not like that."

The music they played was a bit different from Dave's band. It was more blues oriented, where Dave's musical tastes were more rooted in punk and folk. Still, good music is good music. Courtney talked me into having a couple of beers with her and, in between the band's sets, everybody gathered round a big table in the back of the bar to do shots. I wasn't sure exactly what it was sliding down my throat, stinging the whole way, but I really didn't care at that point, either.

Jasper threw his arms around me and gave me a big kiss, "Thanks for being cool and hanging out with my friends tonight. I know they can be kind of…intense."

"It's OK," I slurred. "They're nice."

He kissed me again before the band trouped back up to the stage to play their second set. Courtney and I returned to the bar where we were both now on a first name basis with the bartender.

"Hey ladies," Dustin said as he put a couple of cocktails on the bar in front of us. "Here's something I created, I call it a pink martini – it's gin, a splash of champagne and some grenadine."

"Oooo, that sounds good," I said as I lifted the martini glass for a sip.

It was one of the tastier cocktails I've ever had; though, I'm not big on fruity drinks. Courtney and I sipped the pink martinis slowly as we watched our men in action. I set my glass down on the bar and noticed a girl to my right staring at me.

She was very pretty and short with medium length black hair and deep, dark bronze skin. And she was looking at me like I had offended her greatly.

"Do you know her?" I asked Courtney and pointed in the girl's direction.

"Nope," Courtney replied before taking another drink.

I tried to ignore her, but the girl wouldn't stop staring at me. Finally, after about twenty minutes of staring, she was at my side giving me a withering look.

"You're Jasper's girlfriend?"

I was taken aback, "Yeah…who are you?"

"My name is Maria," she said. "I'm sure he's probably mentioned me before."

I felt my blood start to boil. This was the woman who broke Jasper's heart and slept around on him. I fought back the urge to throw my drink in her face and decided to play it cool. Jasper's my man now, and Maria will just have to go cry in her beer.

"Yeah," I said nonchalantly, "He may have mentioned the name once."

She rolled her eyes at me, "Don't try to play it cool, I'm sure he's told you all sorts of stories about me."

"No, only the one," I said. "And, I must say I should really buy you a drink or something in gratitude, if you hadn't been such a raging slut, he would have never come to Boulder."

She looked like she was going to rear back and punch me, so I jumped out of my seat and got into a good fighting stance. If she wanted a piece of me, I was going to show her I'm not to be messed with. Instead, she dropped her hands and calmed herself down.

She looked up at me with sad eyes, "Can we talk, please?"

"No," I replied simply, "I don't have anything to say to you."

"Please?" She repeated a little louder. "Won't you at least hear my side of the story?"

I debated for a moment. After what Jasper told me about her, she really didn't deserve a chance to explain herself to me. But, then again, I've been in a really fucked up relationship before, so I know things aren't always how they seem. I put my hands down and nodded at her.

She led me to the patio area of the bar where only a few smokers lingered. We stood in a corner and she launched into her story quickly.

"Jasper and I were together for four years," she began, "And, as you probably already know, he seemed like the perfect guy. He's smart and he's funny and hot and he plays the guitar. That's, like, the perfect combination in a man, really. But, after about a year of dating things started to get…weird. First, he hung out more and more with his friends and less with me. And then, when I made plans that didn't include him, he would get very upset with me – he even started accusing me of cheating on him. And, I'll tell you right now, I never cheated on him! Ever! I loved him so much.

"Then came the other girls – girls at the shows he played. Just like the ones standing in front of the stage tonight. He always told me they meant nothing to him, that they're just groupies looking for a musician to sleep with and he didn't respect women like that. Well, I guess you don't really have to respect a woman to sleep with her, do you? I came home one day – we had moved in after just a few months together – and he had another girl in bed with him. I had seen her so many times at his shows; she always looked at him like she'd do anything to have him.

"And then, I just left. I packed everything up and I walked out and to this day he still tells everyone that I was the one that cheated. Even his parents still believe that. I assume you met them – they think the sun shines out his ass, don't they? And now, I'm just the whore that broke Jasper's heart, and that's all I'll ever be."

I listened patiently to this whole story with such an intense combination of emotions raging inside of me I almost wanted to throw up. Could Jasper really be capable of all the things she just said? Or, is she just the world's greatest manipulator? She seems very sincere about the whole ordeal; but, then again, James was also always so sincere – even when he was manipulating me.

"So," she continued. "I don't necessarily expect you to believe me – nobody ever does. But, I just thought I should warn you and give you my half of the story. It's only fair, right?"

I nodded silently and turned to walk back into the bar. I felt really numb as I tried to process everything she just told me. I beat back that little voice inside me that said she could have been telling the truth as I rejoined Courtney at the bar.

"Who was that girl?" She asked.

"Someone who used to know Jasper," I said.

I didn't want to have to explain any further, I just wanted another drink. As if on cue, Dustin showed up with a big smile on his face.

"Hey beautiful, want another martini?"

"Yes please," I replied.

He went about making the drink as I got lost in my thoughts again. It was just then that I noticed the live music had ceased and the jukebox was playing some damn redneck tune. Jasper and his band mates were mingling with the people in the bar and I strained to see if he was being at all flirty with any of the girls. He didn't seem to be.

I caught his eye and he gave me a sweet grin from across the bar. No way was that man capable of all the things Maria said. Not my sweet, loving Jasper. Dustin got my attention again as he set the drink in front of me and smiled. I took a sip and returned his smile.

"Thanks, Dustin, you're awesome!"

"So I've been told," he replied. "So, you don't sound like you're from around here, Alice. Where you from?"

"Boulder."

"Colorado…nice," he said. "I have an uncle who lives up in Fort Collins; I really like it up there."

"Yeah, Fort Collins is a really fun place," I said.

"So, how long are you going to be down here?" He asked.

"I fly back on Sunday."

"Really, so that means you may be available on Saturday for a date, perhaps?"

I laughed and looked down at my drink, "I don't think my boyfriend would like that."

"Ah," he said. "Boyfriend…of course you have a boyfriend. You're the prettiest girl in this bar tonight, you couldn't possibly be single."

I rolled my eyes and took another sip. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Jasper standing there behind me. But he wasn't looking at me, he was glaring at Dustin.

"Hey Dustin, why don't you go get me and the guys a round of Bud light and some whiskey, OK?"

"Sure thing, man," Dustin said, he seemed just as confused as I was.

"Are you OK?" I asked Jasper as he sat down next to me, still glaring after Dustin.

"I'm fine," he said. "I see you met Dustin."

"Well, yeah, Courtney and I have been sitting at the bar all night, we were bound to meet the bartender."

"Did he tell you we went to school together?" Jasper asked.

"No…we didn't mention you."

He shot me a shocked expression, "You…you didn't tell him you had a boyfriend."

"I did when it finally came up," I replied defensively. "Are you jealous? Really? Jasper, you know I'd never cheat on you."

He sighed, "I know…it's just Dustin's kind of a jerk and he once stole my girlfriend in high school. And, I think he did it just because he didn't like me."

"This isn't high school, Jas," I said as I held his face in my hands. "And, I'm not going anywhere – least of all with some bartender who looks like Fred Durst."

Jasper chuckled and leaned in to kiss my lips gently. "I love you, Ali-Cat."

"I love you more."

I deepened our kiss as he pulled me onto his lap easily. Dustin came back with the drinks Jasper had ordered, and the band began to down the whiskey shots and guzzle the beers quickly. I looked around at the debauchery happening around me and turned back to Jasper, "Where are we going to stay tonight?"

"That's a good question," Jasper replied. "Well, I don't think you'll want to crash with any of these guys – lord knows their apartments are not fit for any civilized human being. Plus, I kind of want you all to myself tonight."

He nuzzled the side of my neck as he told me that last part. I could feel his arousal begin to grow through his jeans.

"Well, we could always get a motel room," I said.

"That's just what I was thinkin', darlin'," he replied. "I'll just let the guys know we're turnin' in for the night."

He set me on the ground and took my hand as we walked over to Trey and the guys.

"Jas, man, have some drinks!" Trey exclaimed as we approached.

"No thanks, man," Jasper said. "Alice and I are going to find a motel for the night."

"No way, you two can stay at my place," Trey said.

"No offense, Trey, but hell no! Me and my woman are going to be alone tonight."

I felt my cheeks start to heat up as the guys howled at the implications in what Jasper had just said. He just shook his head at them in exasperation and led me outside. After flagging down a taxi, we found a Comfort Inn to stay at for the night and checked in. As we walked down the hall to our room, I smelled the faintest hint of chlorine in the air.

"Huh, that indoor pool must be down this hall," I said.

Jasper's eyes lit up, "That gives me an idea."

"What?"

Without another word, he grabbed my hand and led me in the direction the bleach smell was coming from. We stopped when we came to a long row of windows. I peered through one and saw the pool inside of the big enclosure. I gave Jasper an incredulous look.

"You know it's probably going to be locked, right?"

"Never know until we try," he said as he reached for the door handle.

He pulled the handle and, after sticking a bit, the door opened without a sound. The smell of chlorine intensified one hundred fold as we walked into the room to get closer to the smooth, flawless water. Jasper began to take his clothes off, but I stayed to the side, unsure.

"We're going to get caught," I said.

"That's part of the excitement," he replied.

I gaped at him in disbelief, "Jasper, let's just go back to our room."

"Come on, kitten…live a little."

Once he was naked, he slid silently into the pool, hissing a little at the initial shock of the water. I took one last look down the hallway before taking my clothes off quickly. When I got down to my bra and panties, I suddenly heard Jasper's voice.

"Ali-Cat," he said quietly. "Take those off nice and slow for me."

I turned to see him floating effortlessly in the water. He gave me a mischievous grin as he came closer to the edge of the pool. I bit my lip seductively as I unhooked my bra slowly and tossed it to the side. I even gave him a little extra thrill by massaging my breasts gently before moving down to slide my panties off of my hips.

I kicked my panties to the side and let him get a good look at me. He sucked in a quick breath as I stood naked before him. I trailed my hands up my sides sensuously until they reached my breasts again and pinched my nipples lightly.

"Darlin', you better get in this water before I jump out and get you," he warned in a deep, sexy voice.

I giggled playfully as I walked to the steps and slowly made my way into the pool. I tried not to make a face as the water hit my most sensitive areas and sent shivers down my spine, but it was difficult. I've always hated that first foray into a pool – who doesn't?

As soon as I was shoulder-deep, Jasper took me into his arms and captured my mouth roughly. He backed me up against the side of the pool and entered me swiftly.

"Sorry I'm not takin' my time, darlin'," he said. "But remember, we're not supposed to be doin' this."

"Shhhh," I shushed as we worked up to a good, steady rhythm. "Let's just enjoy this."

I leaned my head back over the side of the pool as his mouth attached to my breast roughly. He bit and sucked at my nipple as we both reached our climaxes together. It was amazing how synchronized our bodies seemed to be – how in tune we were with each other.

We floated around the pool for a little bit before finally stepping out. We put our clothes back on over our wet bodies and tried to hurry back to our room, but we got stopped in the hallway by the girl from the front desk.

She eyed us suspiciously, "Were…were you two just in the pool?"

"Um…yeah," I said sheepishly.

Jasper said nothing; he just threw his arm around my shoulders and pulled me away. The girl walked in the other direction muttering something about "every week, someone doin' it in the pool…"

Once we got back into our hotel room, we burst into laughter that lasted about a good fifteen minutes.

**So, was Maria's story true...or just a desperate tale from a horrible manipulator? We shall see...**


	11. Chapter 11

We got back to Boulder a couple days after the Houston incident.

I'd never missed my hometown so much in all my life. It's not like I didn't have fun in Texas, but with the strange mix of events that went down, I was just thankful to be getting back into the swing of things.

The change I thought I had seen in Jasper while we were in Houston seemed like a distant memory afterward. Maybe it was just my imagination—I mean, I'm sure I'm a little different around old friends than I am with him, too. It's no big deal.

Once we were back at work, everything was business as usual. Jasper would come over to my desk every half an hour or so to give me a neck rub as I worked on a very intricate design. When it's time to go home for the day, he leans over and kisses the back of my neck softly and says, "Time to go, darlin'. I need some alone time with my woman."

A warm, tingly feeling washed over me every time he said it. He was the same sweet, Texas gentleman who rode in on a white stallion and saved me from James all those months ago.

And, he proved his worth even further by telling me how much he'd love to drive down to Pagosa Springs with me to visit my parents for Christmas. He was sacrificing a lot to do this for me—he had never spent a Christmas away from his family. The night he agreed to the trip, I decided to do every possible, sensual thing in my arsenal to let him know how much I appreciated him.

After getting him good and full on my infamous mac'n'cheese, I got to work on the rest of his surprise. First, I filled the gigantic tub in our bathroom with nice, hot water and some vanilla scented bubbles. I knew Jasper wouldn't be half as concerned with being in a tub full of girlie scented bubbles as long as I was in the bath with him – naked, of course. The water was almost scorching to the touch, but should be just right by the time we were done in the bedroom.

I put my pink, lacy nightgown on before attaching two of my scarves to either side of the headboard. I giggled mischievously to myself as I imagined how those could come into play later.

I put on a pair of five-inch stilettos and walked out to the living room where Jasper was lounging on the couch. He was staring blankly at the TV, still in something of a food coma, until I stepped into his line of vision. As soon as he saw me, his face lit up and he was off the couch in an instant.

"Kitten's feelin' frisky tonight, huh darlin'?" He asked as he lifted me into his arms.

I made a low, purring sound in his ear, "Your little Ali-Cat just thought she'd show you how much she loves you."

He carried me to the bedroom where I'd covered the lampshades in scarves and set my iPod up to play a nice, smooth playlist. I jumped out of Jasper's arms and pushed play on the device before crawling onto the bed on all fours. I decided, since he likes to think of my as a kitten anyway, I'd play that up a little bit.

I pulled my nightgown over my head and threw it towards him. He chuckled as I rolled around in the sheets, like a cat tumbling on the floor. I was so engrossed in my activities, I hadn't noticed he'd removed all of his clothes, too, and was idly stroking himself next to the bed.

I stopped writhing and looked up at him seductively, "Aren't you going to play with your kitten?"

"I intend to do so much more than play, Ali-Cat," he replied in a low, sexy voice.

He crawled onto the bed next to me and captured my lips in a rough and thorough kiss. It was so intense and passionate, it made my head spin. I had almost forgotten I intended to tie him up to the bed and ride him like a stallion. As I remembered this, however, Jasper seemed to get an idea of his own.

He took my left hand and kissed my wrist gently before placing it against the bed post and securing it there with the scarf. Before I could protest, he repeated the action on my right hand.

I pouted and gazed up at him, "It was supposed to be you who gets tied up tonight."

He kissed my pouty lips and chuckled, "I think I like this better."

Jasper positioned himself between my legs as he placed two fingers in his mouth, wetting them before slowly sliding them between my folds. This wasn't exactly how I thought things would – pardon the expression – go down tonight. But, as long as Jasper was happy, and was doing such wonderful things to me, I wasn't going to complain.

I simply allowed him to thrust his long, expert fingers in and out of my and flick his tongue over my clit repeatedly until I came screaming his name.

I wanted more than anything to run my fingers through his hair at that very moment, but my hands were bound to the bed posts. I did, however, manage to get my legs wrapped around his waist. I pulled him as close as I could get him as he trailed his tongue up my body until his lips reached mine.

"Jasper, make love to me please," I begged.

"That's the plan, darlin'," he said. "I'm gonna make sweet love to you all night long."

I moaned loudly as he slowly filled me to the hilt. That's something I can never get enough of – him inside of me. I strained against the scarves that held my hands above my head as I writhed beneath him.

"Jasper…lover…I want to hold you while we make love."

He chuckled, "Getting tied up was your idea, darlin'."

"Please," I begged again. I had a feeling I'd be doing quite a lot of that tonight.

"Alright, darlin'." He untied my hands slowly, kissing each wrist as it was released.

We made love three times that night. And, even though it didn't turn out exactly the way I had hoped, it was still so amazing.

Jasper and I drove down to Pagosa Springs a week before Christmas to see my parents. Because of their hectic schedules, Edward and Emmett couldn't get to Mom and Dad's until Christmas Eve. I was a little glad about that since this would be the first time I took Jasper to my parents' house for any particular reason. Lord knows the pressure had to be bad enough – no need to make it worse by adding a couple of big, burly brothers to the mix.

However, Jasper didn't really seem all that fazed by the idea of spending the holidays with my parents.

"Relax darlin'," he told me just as we got past Del Norte. "It's not like your parents don't know me."

"Yeah, but it feels different somehow," I said. "It's a big step. I didn't even take Ja…well, 'you know who,' to see my parents for Christmas until we had been dating for two years."

He leaned over and kissed my cheek softly, "Well, I'm not 'you know who,' am I?"

"No," I replied with a shy smile. "You're definitely not. And you're right, I'm reading too much into this – my parents like you, it's going to be fine."

Yep, that's what I'll keep telling myself, "it's going to be fine….just fine…"

We got to Mom and Dad's house and my mother, being the compassionate person she is, welcomed Jasper with a big hug. Dad shook his hand firmly, "Glad to see you again, son."

The word "son" sounded like there were implications behind it when my father said it, but I ignored that and settled in to my parent's nice little home. Since they didn't have kids to take care of anymore, they had a house with only one extra bedroom. However, knowing my father, that would mean I get to stay in the room alone and Jasper would be stuck on an air mattress in the study.

Sure enough, after dinner my dad set said air mattress out and began inflating it. I gave Jasper an apologetic look, "Guess you're stuck in Dad's study tonight."

He shrugged and smiled, "It's OK; if I was your father, I'd probably be just as protective over my amazing, beautiful daughter."

I blushed as he leaned over to place a gentle kiss on my left temple. We were sitting on the couch in my parents' living room while Dad was hard at work and my mom was in the kitchen making some hot chocolate for us all. She walked into the living room with a tray topped with the steaming mugs of cocoa and a bag of marshmallows. Dad came back into the room as Mom set the tray on the coffee table.

"Just in time," Dad said as he grabbed a mug.

Once we had finished our cocoas and sat through some Hallmark holiday TV movie, I yawned and stretched melodramatically, "Time for bed, I think."

"Aw, poor baby," Mom said as she gave me a hug goodnight, "That was quite the drive wasn't it?"

"Meh, it was OK," I said, giving her a wink.

As soon as I was in the guest room, I changed into my shorts and tank top before sliding under the covers. I put my headphones on and turned on my iPod, and soon I was drifting off to sleep.

That is...until I was interrupted by someone pulling the headphones from my ears. Once my eyes adjusted in the darkness, I saw Jasper there, standing over me. He grinned at me salaciously, "Hey darlin', I was gettin' lonely down there all by myself."

"If my dad catches you in here, he's going to kill you," I hissed.

"He won't," Jasper whispered back, "I'll make sure I'm up early and back down to the study before he wakes up. I just can't sleep unless I'm curled up with you."

I sighed in mock frustration, "OK, jump in."  
He stretched out next to me and quickly took me into his arms. I started kissing his neck lightly, but when he seemed to be getting a bit too into it, I pulled away.

"We shouldn't get started with something we can't finish," I said.

"Why can't we finish darlin'?" He asked. "You know me, I always finish."

I rolled my eyes, "I'm not having sex in my parents' house. And don't try to tell me we'll be really quiet because that's not all I'm worried about. It would just haunt me to know I did something like that."  
He sighed, and I hoped that was the end of the argument. But then, he rolled over and climbed out of the bed. He left my room without another word, leaving me wondering all night what I had done that upset him so much. I hardly slept a wink, and it showed the next morning – I walked into the kitchen for breakfast with bags under my eyes.

"Wow, Ali, you look tired, Babygirl," Mom said as she poured me some coffee.

"Couldn't sleep," I said.

"Why not?" Dad asked, shooting Jasper an accusing look.

I shrugged, "Just couldn't…must be too excited to be here."

I think Dad took from my sulky expression that Jasper and I hadn't done anything last night. Jasper seemed indifferent to everything except my mom, who he was always very polite to. I still didn't get it, we don't have sex for one night and he gets mad at me? What's wrong with this picture?

After breakfast, my parents announced they were headed off for their morning walk, so I took Jasper's hand and led him back upstairs. I slammed my bedroom door behind us and glared at him.

"What the hell is your problem?"

He stared at me blankly, "What do you mean, kitten?"

I was about three seconds away from throttling him, "You're acting like a spoiled brat just because I didn't want to have sex last night. What the hell?"

"Hey, you didn't seem to have any qualms about having sex in my parents' house," he shot back. "How's this any different."

"I just don't feel comfortable," I said, taken aback slightly. "I feel like I would be disrespecting them."

His eyes blazed, "And you don't care about disrespecting my parents?"

"That's not what I meant and you know it," I cried. "God, why can't you just see this from my perspective for once? Don't I do everything for you? You're acting as though I don't love you or something."

I broke into tears and collapsed onto the bed. Jasper sat next to me and rubbed my back gently.

"I know you love me, kitten," he said with a sigh, "I'm sorry, I'm being a prick, aren't I?"

I looked up at him and nodded, eliciting a laugh from him, "That's my Ali-Cat – always honest with me."

He stood up and held out his hand, which I hesitantly accepted. He led me into the bathroom and started running the shower.

"I think you need a nice hot shower." My eyes went wide as I assumed he meant together. "Without me," he amended, "I'll be downstairs, waiting for you to be done."

I kissed him sweetly, "Do you want to go to the hot springs today?"

"Isn't it kind of cold for that?" He asked.

"That's the point," I said. "It would be way too hot to go to the hot springs in summer. The pools are about 100 degrees."

"Seriously?"

"Well, some of them are," I said. "Some are hotter, some are cooler. You go from one to the other."

"Yeah, but when you get out aren't you freezing?"

"Nope," I said. "Trust me, you're going to love it."

"I didn't bring any swim trunks."

"It's OK," I said. "They sell some there."

He shrugged and gave me one last kiss before I jumped into the shower. Once I was ready to go, we borrowed my dad's truck and drove over to the hot spring pools. We went to the gift shop and got Jasper some trunks before heading out to jump into the first pool. I decided to start him off slow, so we plunged into the coolest pool – at 83 degrees. We just sat close to one another and enjoyed the warm water.

As we spent ten to fifteen minutes in each pool, getting hotter and hotter each time, I started to feel much better than I had earlier. We both were probably just grumpy from the six hour drive down yesterday, and neither one of us was acting rationally.

We were in the super hot pool – the 114 degree one – and I looked over to him. He rested his head against the side of the pool peacefully, his eyes closed. I rolled over so I straddled his waist and planted a searing kiss on his lips. He moaned into my mouth, "I don't know what's hotter kitten – the water, or my woman."

"It had better be your woman," I teased as I ground my pelvis against his.

He laughed, "You won't have sex in your parents' house, but you'll have sex in public? I didn't know you were an exhibitionist, Ali-Cat."

I smack his chest lightly, "There isn't anybody else around. Plus, we're not having sex here. But," I added as I turned around and pointed in the distance, "There is a really nice hotel over there."

"Oh yeah, your parents won't notice we're gone or anything," he laughed. "I think it would be better if we just went home and relaxed."

I sighed, "OK…if you say so."

**Sorry, this was just sort of a transition chapter. The next few chapters will definitely find the plot thickening!**


	12. Chapter 12

Thankfully, Christmas ended up being rather uneventful. Edward and Emmett showed up, with Bella and Rosalie in tow, and we all had a lovely little time. My mom made prime rib for dinner, while Bella and I helped make some side dishes, and Rose stayed well away from anything having to do with cooking.

I've tried her cooking once; it should be issued with a hazardous waste decal.

Jasper's gift to me was beautiful, too. It almost made up for him acting like such a jackass the other day. Apparently, when we were in Texas, his mom gave him an old necklace that belonged to his great-grandmother. Incidentally, she wore it when she became Miss Texas in 1937.

It was magnificent, to day the least—a heart pendant with what had to be two karats worth of rubies in it. He placed it around my neck Christmas morning and whispered it was his heart, and he officially gives it to me.

OK, this totally makes up for him being a jerk.

At dinner, I kept playing with the pendant and smiling. I knew Maria was full of shit, there's no way Jasper could be all those things she said. And, I bet he never gave her a gift like this. Some girls just live to cause trouble, I suppose.

We drove back to Boulder the day after Christmas. I said a teary goodbye to my parents before Jasper and I got on the road. As I hugged my dad, he pulled me close and whispered, "Take care of yourself, Babygirl. We love you very much."

"I know, Daddy," I said as I turned my face to give him a kiss on the cheek.

He gave Jasper a strange look before turning to walk back into the house. Mom, on the other hand, gave Jasper a big hug and kiss before we left.

"Don't be strangers," Mom said, sounding like she was on the verge of tears, "Come down and see us soon."

"We will, Mom," I said, trying to keep my own emotions in check.

Jasper plugged in my iPod, and we listened to The Shins most of the way back to Boulder. I dozed off somewhere around Fairplay and slept with my face to the cold window for about three hours.

Maybe it was the cold affecting my dreams, but they certainly weren't pleasant. I had a particularly horrible dream about me and Jasper. I dreamt we were married and had three kids, but he was very blatantly sleeping around on me.

I woke up with a start when Jasper gently nudged my shoulder after we pulled up to the apartment complex.

"Ah! Jesus, don't do that!"

"Sorry, darlin,' you just looked like you were having a bad dream," he said as he rubbed my back.

"I was," I said as I opened my car door and got out. It was already dark out as we pulled our luggage from the back of Jasper's truck. I couldn't shake the dream at first, until I changed into my pajamas and remembered the pendant hanging around my neck.

Remember, I told myself, Jasper loves you and he'd never hurt you.

Jasper came into the bathroom and wrapped his arms around me. He placed his chin lightly on the top of my head and gazed at me in the mirror, "That bad dream still buggin' you?"

I nodded, making his head bob up and down on top of mine. He chuckled, "it was just a dream, darlin'. Your Jasper wouldn't let anything happen to you—you know that, right?"

I nodded again.

"Good," he whispered. "Now, I believe we've been waiting a whole week for something..."

His hands trailed down the side of my body and grasped the hem of my nightgown as his lips found their way to the side of my neck. Even though I still wasn't fully in the mood to be intimate, I leaned into him instinctively and sighed contentedly. Jasper just has the power to put me in the mood at a moment's notice. I call it Jasper Voodoo.

Before I knew it, my nightgown was off and we ended up tangled in the sheets again.

**New Years**

Dave and the rest of the band decided to have a little get together for New Years' Eve, and I was so excited that Jasper volunteered our place for the party. It proved to me he was really getting to like my friends, and his band mates, a great deal. Part of me was afraid he might miss playing with his band in Houston too much.

We went out to the liquor store and got a ton of beer, vodka, tequila and a few bottles of champagne for the party – we said we'd provide the booze, everyone else was to bring a dish of some kind.

The party got underway at about 9 p.m. on New Years' Eve and we were all having a great time. I finally introduced Freya to Bella and Rosalie, and they all got along really well, as I knew they would. The four of us sat on the couch in mine and Jasper's living room as the band and the brain-dead girlfriends stood out on the porch in heavy winter coats to smoke.

My good time did get take a bit of a hit as I noticed my brothers sitting in the kitchen, not really socializing with anybody. I walked in and threw myself on Emmett's lap playfully, "Hey…why the long face?"

He smirked and pushed me off him, "Funny."

"No, really," I said, "Aren't you guys having a good time?"

"Sure," Edward said. "It's just – besides you, Bella, Rose and Jasper – we don't know anyone."

"Oh, that's right – you've never met Dave or Freya before," I said sheepishly; I felt a little bad that I had kept my two friends separated from my family. "Well, Dave and the guys are really cool, you could try talking to them."

"Yeah, we'll just wait until the lung poisoners come back from the frozen tundra," Emmett said. Needless to say, my brothers are emphatically anti-smoking.

"And, we'd like to keep our distance from those annoying little sperm receptacles, too," Edward said. "I caught one of them staring at me like she was going to jump my bones right in front of her boyfriend – how pathetic can you get?"

"Yeah, none of us really likes the wonder sluts," I said.

"Don't worry, sweetie," Bella told Edward as she poured herself another vodka and cranberry juice. "If one of those girls so much as brushes past your shoulder, I'll stab her in the eye with one of her ridiculously high heels."

"Oh, I know," Rosalie said. "I mean, who wears five-inch stilettos to a New Years' Eve party? That's a good way to break your damn ankle."

"We should be so lucky," Freya quipped.

"Lucky for what?" Jasper asked as he walked in to grab another beer.

"Nothing," I replied quickly, "Is everyone having a good time out there?"

"Yeah, though I think we should invest in some sort of outdoor space heater," he said as he leaned in to kiss my cheek. "How are things in here?"

"Fine and dandy," Emmett said as he took a swig from his bottle of Corona.

The sarcasm wasn't lost on Jasper, "Well, I'm sure we can all find something stimulating to do…unless certain people want to find entertainment elsewhere…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Emmett asked.

"Nothin' man," Jasper said as he walked back out to the porch.

"Hey," I said, smacking Emmett's shoulder lightly, "What's up with you? I thought you liked Jasper."

"I do," Emmett said, "He's the one being a jerk."

"I agree," Edward said, "He's changed over the past few months, Al. Is he still treating you OK?"

"Yes," I replied. "And he hasn't changed at all, you guys are just being overprotective! You're going to think every guy I date from now on is like James, aren't you?"

"Who said anything about him?" Edward asked, "We're talking about Jasper, and he has changed – whether you've noticed it or not."

"He has, Al," Rosalie said. Bella nodded behind her.  
I looked to Freya, who just stood off to the side, looking awkward, "You know what? If you guys are going to act like jerks, you can all leave."

I grabbed my drink and coat and headed out to the porch, leaving my family inside to gape at me as I stormed out. It was melodramatic, yes, but I was completely justified – or so I thought. My brothers were just being snobby, as usual. I remember when I started hanging with this guy in high school, Jared. He was a skater and a drummer in a band, and I thought he was the dreamiest guy in the world. My brothers tried to convince me he was a loser, and I let them. The next thing I knew, he was dating my friend Emily, and I was stuck at prom with Mike Newton – the spit-talker.

I wasn't about to let them tell me Jasper was a loser, too. He was the best thing that ever happened to me.

He and the band were outside talking about past gigs with other bands the guys had played with. Jasper was deep into a story about his time spent in Houston when I closed the door behind me and stood off to the side to listen.

"…so, I'm up on stage playing this old Muddy Waters song, and this chick comes out of nowhere and throws her panties at me, right? They land right on my face and I stagger back, trip over the amp and end up falling on my ass right in front of Jimmy's drum kit. Totally humiliated…everyone in the audience is laughing at me. But, I got that chick's number and hooked up with her…"

The guys in the band – except Dave – started hooting and hollering at Jasper's story. No one had noticed I was there, yet, so I simply slipped back into the apartment. I looked around and the only person who was in the place was Freya, who sat on the couch watching Dick Clark…or, I guess, that Seacrest guy.

"Did they leave?" I asked.

She looked up at me with an incredulous expression, "What did you expect? You told them to."

I sighed and sat next to her, "I didn't tell them to, I merely suggested. My brothers were being jerks."

"You know, they really weren't," she said. "And, by the way, Jasper has changed since I met him. I don't like what I'm seeing in him, Al."

"Nothing has changed," I said in exasperation.

"Alice, don't do that," she said, "Don't justify his behavior…you're only making it OK for him to be a jackass."

The glass door opened and everybody herded in from outside. The wonder sluts went back to the kitchen to mooch off some more of my Grey Goose, while the guys sat around laughing about a story Jesse had just told.

"Where did the others go?" Jasper asked me.

I shrugged, "They just left."

"Huh," he replied as he slid onto the couch next to me, "How very nice of them to leave without so much as a 'goodbye,' or 'thanks for all the free booze, Alice and Jasper.'"

"Yeah, nice Irish accents," Sully said.

"And you'd know, you evil little leprechaun," Jesse said as he smacked Sully in the back of the head.

I ignored them and tried snuggling closer to Jasper, but he had finished his beer just then and jumped up to get another. I tried to not feel stung by that, but how could I not? My boyfriend just blatantly rebuffed my advances.

I stood up to get another drink, even though I already had three vodka drinks tonight and should probably give it a rest since there was still champagne to be had later. It didn't help that Sully was standing next to me, egging me on.

"Come on, Al," he said, "You can put more vodka in that, this is a party!"

I smirked at him and poured another shot of Grey Goose into my glass. This time, instead of cranberry, I just got some green olives from the fridge and put them into my drink with a little olive juice. Besides, I had too much vodka in the glass to really put much cranberry juice in it, anyway.

I took one sip of the makeshift martini in my hand and immediately felt the effects of it. Sully gave me a high five, but I was so drunk I missed it by a mile, eliciting a round of riotous laughter from the guys.

"Damn, Cullen is wasted!" Jesse cheered. "That's the way you party, right there."

"Hell yeah," one of the sluts said.

The two girlfriends put their arms around me like we were old friends and we all tried to tap each others' glasses for a toast, but all missed and started laughing even harder.

"Damn, we're all shitfaced!" The blonde said.

"Hey ladies," Sully said as he stood in front of us, "How about a triple kiss to kick the New Year off right?"

He held a point-and-shoot camera in his hands and brought it up to his right eye. The two other girls looked at me and started leaning in. _Why not,_ my drunken brain asked, _you're not going to remember this tomorrow, anyway?_

All three sets of lips met in the middle as I saw a flash come from the direction of Sully's camera. I pulled back and laughed, as did the other two, and wiped their sticky lipgloss from my mouth. Hell, at least that's something I can always say I tried once.

I felt someone pull me into the kitchen and was met with Freya's stern, light green eyes.

"Dude, I think you've had enough tonight," she said as she took my drink and dumped it down the kitchen sink.

"Hey!" I yelled, "I'm not done having a good time, Debbie Downer."

She rolled her eyes, "Shut the hell up, you drunk ass. You're acting like an idiot, and I'm trying to help you keep some of your dignity intact."  
"Whatever," I slurred as I slinked away and sat at the kitchen table.

I felt Jaspers' hands make contact with my shoulders gently as he started massaging slowly, "I think Freya's right, you should calm down."

"I'm fine," I said as I leaned back to look up at him.

His face did not look happy, "You're not fine, you're drunk. And…you're embarrassing me – and yourself."

His hands left my shoulders abruptly as he turned and walked back outside to smoke. I watched him go with tears in my eyes and waited for everyone to get out to the porch before running drunkenly to the bathroom. I locked the door behind me and sat on the toilet while I wept.

I thought about that time in college when I went out to the Starlight with Bella and Rosalie. We saw this band called Shogun, and I kept letting the guys at the bar buy me Jaeger shots. I got so drunk, I threw up twice in the bar's bathroom that night. By the time we were catching a cab back to Boulder, I was stumbling around and trying to make out with the band's roadie. He just pushed me away and told me he wouldn't make out with a drunken girl.

I couldn't believe I had been that girl, and I vowed never to do something that dumb again. Looks like I just broke that vow.

The urge to puke hit me hard, and I turned and lifted the toilet seat just in time to not make a mess I would have to clean up in the morning. After I vomited all the booze and Freya's yummy pinwheels from my stomach, I finally stood and looked at myself in the mirror – I looked like Alice Cooper's stunt double. I took a piece of toilet paper and wiped the runny mascara from my cheeks before looking for the Scope to get the taste of bile out of my mouth.

I opened the medicine cabinet and came face-to-face with a box of condoms. I tried to think nothing of it, but Jasper and I haven't used any for months now – not since I've been on birth control. And, this looked like a brand new pack.

Next to the box was an orange prescription bottle, I grabbed it and shut the mirrored medicine cabinet with great force. I looked at myself in the mirror again, trying to not read anything into what I had just seen. Unfortunately, the amount of booze still in my system made me more willing than usual to assume the worst.

Without thinking, I opened the medicine bottle and downed a mouthful of the pills. A part of my brain thought maybe they'd take the edge off the headache I was now developing – but, really, they only had one purpose at the moment.

I threw the bottle away before finally opening the door and walking out to see Freya sitting on the couch next to Dave – everyone else was still outside.

"How are you feeling?" Freya asked as she stood and followed me to the kitchen table.

"Like shit," I replied, "But, I think all the puking I just did should help."

She set a glass of water in front of me, "This will help, too."

I nodded before taking a nice, long drink of the water. Just as I set the glass down on the table, the urge to vomit hit me again. Freya helped me to the side of the sink with the garbage disposal in just enough time, and even held my hair back as I let everything go. Except, this time, the puking wouldn't stop.

I kept dry-heaving, even when there was nothing left that should have made me sick. Just before I blacked out, I saw Freya and Dave's faces watching me with sadness and worry.

When I woke up, I was in a white room surrounded by my brothers. Edward and Emmett were on either side of me, looking very worried – just like Freya and Dave had been.

"Alice," Edward began, "What did you do to yourself?"

"I think I drank too much," I wheezed out.

Emmett shook his head, "It's more than that, Al. They said you took something. Freya said when you were throwing up in the sink, she could see tons of little pills coming out. What did you take?"

"I don't know," I said. "I just grabbed a bottle…I had a headache."

I tried to sit up, "Where's Jasper?"

"He's in the waiting room," Edward said. "They're only allowing family in right now."

"He's my family, too," I replied.

"No he's not," Emmett shot back, "He's part of the reason you're here, and you know it."

"Freya told us what he said to you, Alice," Edward added. "That's what upset you, isn't it? That's what made you go into the bathroom and take those pills."

"No it's not," I cried, "I had a headache."

"Enough!" Emmett yelled. "Look, unless you can come to your damn senses, we can't do anything to help you, Al."

"I don't need your help, I'm fine," I said. "I can take care of myself."

My brothers exchanged disgusted glances and left the room. They didn't understand – they couldn't understand. After I got examined by a doctor, Jasper was allowed into the room. He sat in the nearest chair with a sigh, "Why'd you do it, kitten?"

"I didn't know what I was doing," I said. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so thoughtless. I probably ruined the party, didn't I?"

He shook his head, "That's not the point, Ali-Cat, you could have killed yourself. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Jasper leaned over the bedside and took my hands into his own. He kissed my forehead gently and sighed again, "I love you."

"I love you too," I said. He sounded completely different than he had last night. It was probably just the alcohol making him say those things to me. He kissed both my hands before leaning back and looking at the clock.

"It's past noon, are you hungry, kitten?"

I nodded.

"OK, how about some Sonic? Could you go for a chili-cheese coney right about now?"

"That sounds delicious," I said.

He gave me a parting kiss and walked out to get me lunch. I sighed contentedly and laid back against the uncomfortable hospital pillows. Suddenly, I wondered where all my friends were – I figured Bella, Rosalie and Freya would be here, waiting to give me a severe tongue-lashing for overdosing on whatever it was I took. But, they were nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, there was boisterous laughed coming down the hall.

"Where's that party animal?!" It was Sully. Wow, the guys in the band had come to see me and not my friends? That's an interesting turn of events.

The tiny drummer threw open the door to my room and stormed in with Jesse and their girlfriends right behind him. My god, what is this, an alternate universe?

"Hey, Cullen! You just had to steal my thunder last night, didn't you?" Sully asked as he flopped on the bed beside me. "I was the one who was supposed to party so hard I got sent to the hospital."

"Well, what can I say, Sully?" I replied. "I'm just more gangster than you."

Jesse and the girls started laughing as Sully pouted like a child and moved himself to the nearest chair.

"Where's Jasper?" Jesse asked.

"He went to get me some lunch," I said. "Where are Dave and Freya."

"They said they're on their way," Sully replied. "I think they had to stop somewhere on the way."

Jesse kicked Sully in the leg sharply, making the little guy jump. "Ow…what was that for?"

Jesse gave him a meaningful look. I guessed that they weren't supposed to say anything about Freya and Dave's detour to the hospital. The couple showed up a few minutes after Sully and Jesse left with some flowers for me. Dave put them next to my bed as Freya hugged me close, "How are you feeling?"

"Better," I said. Jasper walked in with my lunch and I ate while my companions in the room tried to keep the conversation light.

"God, Dick Clark really looked sad last night, didn't he?" Dave asked.

"Well, the man did have a stroke," Freya replied.

"Then he should retire," Dave said. "You couldn't understand a word he was saying last night. I mean, I thought it would be good for a laugh, but it was just sad. And, they never have any good bands on that show anymore, either."

"Or on MTV," Jasper said. "Do you remember when Green Day played New Years? Man, those were the days. Now it's that emo crap."

"Well," I said after I took a sip of my soda, "Some things will just never be the same again."


	13. Chapter 13

Following my little episode, Freya got in the habit of watching me like a hawk and calling me about four or five times a day to see how I was feeling. I understood where she was coming from—she is bipolar and knows a great deal about the mental state of someone who's tried to take her life. But, no matter how much I tried, I just couldn't convince her I was completely fine.

As far as Rosalie and Bella were concerned, they had become somewhat distant as of late. And, as much as I swore it didn't bother me, it was actually ripping this gigantic hole in my heart. But I was also too stubborn to confront them about it—I mean I'm the victim here, aren't I? One little fight and my two best friends decide to stop talking to me? That's just childish!

And, of course, Jasper seemed to be feeding these feelings of neglect in which I had been wallowing. He reiterated how I had done nothing wrong, and if Rosalie and Bella couldn't see that, well, then maybe they weren't very good friends at all.

On the home front, things went pretty much back to normal between me and Jasper. Our relationship had that same amazing vibe it had when we first met—like everything was new and exciting. I never asked him about that package of condoms I found in the medicine cabinet, because I trusted him.

He would never, ever do anything to hurt me.

The band had a gig with four other groups at the Fox Theater, so Freya and I devised a plan to avoid the other band girlfriends and various groupies that would be sure to annoy us to no end. A couple days after my...incident...the wonder sluts went back to their usual, mind-numbing selves, so I went back to despising them.

The day of the concert, I tried to bring up the gig at work to see if Rose or Bella would have any interest in going—they didn't.

"Sorry Al," Rose said, not even bothering to look up from her computer. "Emmett and I have a date with Bella and Edward tonight."

"You could all come, you know," I told her. "I haven't talked to my brothers in a while."

"Whose fault is that?" Rose spat in my direction venomously.

"So, is that was this is all about? Are my brothers telling you and Bella to keep your distance, huh?"

"No Alice, we can see what you're turning into all on our own," Rose said.

I turned to Bella who, as usual, stood along the wall and obediently agreed with everything Rose said – the spineless little puppet.

"Fine, you know what? Fuck both of you," I said. "If you're just going to let this friendship die, so be it."

I turned and brusquely exited the office. As I threw myself back into my chair angrily, Jasper was already on his feet behind me, massaging my shoulders gently.

"Shhhh, kitten, it's going to be OK," he whispered. "Remember, you have me—you don't need anybody else."

"I know," I replied with a sigh. I let him sooth me as I finished up the design I had been working on all week. After a moment, I could feel his eyes on the back of my head. I looked up and say him gazing at me with a mysterious expression etched into his face.

"You know you are the most important part of this company, right? I mean, Rose and Bella can't function without you...you're the only one with any real talent..."

"What are you saying?" I asked as I turned to face him.

"Let's start our own design company," he suggested as he sat on the opposite side of my desk.

"We don't know anything about running a company," I said. "Rose and Bella may not know anything about design, but they know the business end of things. Plus, they have amazing contacts and a lot of pull with other companies in the area. They could bury us if we became competition."

"On the contrary," he said. "If these companies found out the graphic designers were leaving to open their own business, they'd know something isn't right with how Rose and Bella are running things. And, as soon as we undercut the asking price for designs, we'll put them out of business."

This was getting out of hand—I may be unbelievably pissed off as Rose and Bella, but I didn't want to put them out of business…did I? I stood up and stretched my wearied back out.

"Let's just put that thought on the back-burner for now, OK?" I said as I reached up to plant a kiss on Jasper's lips. "It can always be an option if things get really bad."

He smirked as he brushed his lips past mine again. We left work a little early, since it was Friday, and got back to our place to get ready for the gig. I hopped in the shower and was quickly joined by Jasper, who lifted me up and pressed my back against the wall.

We made love until the water ran cold, and my sense of being totally and unconditionally loved by this man was completely renewed. Like I said before, it's called Jasper Voodoo.

I decided to dress a bit nicer than I usually do, throwing on a very pretty, violet halter top and my nicest, most butt-enhancing jeans. I flat-ironed my hair and put on some stunning makeup before grabbing my favorite, strappy heels and meeting Jasper at the front door. He beheld me with a cocked eyebrow and a grin threatening to ruin his cool facade.

"My, Miss Alice, but you do look too beautiful tonight," he purred into my ear. "I may have a difficult time concentrating on the music if you're in the crowd."

"Well, if you want me to stay home..."

He pulled me flush against his body possessively, "Absolutely not, you've got to be my inspiration tonight, love."

"When you put it that way," I said as I wrapped one leg around his waist, "How could a girl refuse?"

"Don't refuse, kitten; just bend to my will."

As he captured my lips in a searing kiss, my mind let go of all rational thought. I simply gave myself over to the pure, awesome power of his kiss. Once I recovered, we made our way down to the truck and got to the theater so Jasper could tune up with the rest of the band.

I sat next to Freya and we chatted just off to the right side of the stage. The other girlfriends were out in the bar area, already tucking into what I'm sure was their third or fourth drink of the night. Me—I've sworn off the booze for a while.

Thankfully, the theater was nice enough to provide food for the band and crew. Freya and I managed to sneak into the green room and grab some dinner before the guys invaded to devour everything in sight. And, of course, we knew the anorexic girlfriends would definitely keep their distance from any form of food. They only get their calories from vodka.

We ate our food quickly before walking back to the side of the stage to hear the guys practice. Jasper was playing a solo on his guitar when we got back and I smiled contentedly as he closed his eyes and really got into it. When he was finished he turned and noticed me watching him. He gave me a wink and I blew him a kiss.

Freya caught my attention and gave me a smirk, "God, you're such a band girlfriend."

"Why, hello Pot, my name is Kettle, nice to meet you," I replied sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes and we turned back to the stage. The guys were finished with their warm up and the headliners were starting to get set up for their rehearsal. Once the show got started, we would have about an hour and a half before the guys hit the stage again. Because of Dave's connections, they got to go on right before the marquee band, and the boys' excitement was palpable.

"Aw man, this is going to be so awesome!" Sully said as he bounced around the green room, banging his drum sticks on everything in sight—including Jesses' head.

"Hey, knock it off, you evil leprechaun," Jesse warned.

Freya and I sat on a nearby couch and watched the guys interact; it was funny how nervous they all were. It was as though they'd never played a gig before. Sully sauntered over to me and Freya and threw himself across our laps.

"Ugh, get off us," Freya demanded as she pushed his feet to the floor. "God, you know, for a little guy, you are really heavy."

"Hey, it's all muscle, baby," Sully retorted. His head lay in my lap and he waggled his eyebrows at me saucily. Jasper walked over and grabbed Sully by the ear so he could pull him to his feet.

"That's my girl," Jasper said quietly, "Why don't you go over there and play with your own?"

"Ow, jeez! I was just kidding," Sully whine, rubbing his ear.

Jasper sat on the other side of me and glared at Sully dangerously for a moment before turning to me and kissing my lips thoroughly. It was almost too intense, actually; like he was trying to meld our faces together. I pulled away to catch my breath, "Damn, Jas – feeling a little possessive tonight?"

He narrowed his eyes at me, "Not any more so than usual."

The band went on around 8:30, and Freya and I decided to go out into the crowd, because the sound backstage wasn't as good as being in the audience. The boys launched into Dave's latest song and the whole theater started dancing around; even Freya, who generally has an aversion to dancing. I swayed to the music and kept my eyes firmly on Jasper – he's just so magnetic when he's performing. And I was definitely feeling the pull.

The wonder sluts began dancing beside us like a couple of drunken idiots – so it was really just par for the course for them. Tonight, however, they surrounded themselves with a bunch of girls who could best be described as cheap-looking. They were obviously groupies. Some of them even had shirts emblazoned with the name of the headlining band – how lame can you get?

After a while, I felt beyond parched and ready to make a beeline to the bathroom, so I grabbed Freya's hand and dragged her out to the lobby. She went to the bar to get us some bottled water while I went into the ladies' room to relieve myself. I was in a stall when a group of girls in heels stumbled into the bathroom. I shook my head and sighed – who wears heels to a concert? It's idiotic and not just a little desperate looking.

Just as I was about to finish up, one of the girls started lamenting, "Geez, there's too many skanks here tonight. Do they really believe any of the guys are going home with them?"

"I know," said another girl. "One of those sluts had the nerve to say she's going to get Brad's attention tonight, can you believe it? Like he'd ever look at her when I'm here."

"I know what you mean," said yet a third ho-bag. "All those girls out there right now think they're going home with Jasper, but they've got it so wrong."

My heart stopped and I could no longer breathe. This little trollop had better say they had it wrong because Jasper has a girlfriend named Alice. However, that was just beyond wishful thinking.

"Jasper is totally going home with me tonight," the girl said. "He can't take his eyes off of me."

"You better keep that to yourself right now," it was Sully's girlfriend talking at the moment, "You know his girlfriend is here tonight, right?"

"Please, that little dwarf? I don't know what he sees in her," the girl went on, "She's not even pretty. Plus, she and that other, curly-haired freak just stand there like they're too good to be in the crowd. They should both just go find some nice investment bankers to marry or something – leave the rockstars to the real girls."

I'd heard enough; I flushed the toilet as I flung the stall door open and walked right up to the blonde bitch. I'd seen her before at a different gig – tall, bleached, fake-tanned and always over-done. She beheld me with mild amusement, "Speaking of the skank."

"That's rich coming from a cheap whore like you," I spat at her. "You know why Jasper loves me? Because I have all the things you lack; like a job, a brain and a natural skin tone."

She rolled her eyes, "Whatever, you just keep telling yourself that. And, keep telling yourself that Jasper loves you and has never cheated on you with me."

"Or that girl, Jenna, who booked the bands for the gig," said one of the other girls. "I bet you even talked to her and thought she was such a nice girl, didn't you? Nope! She totally banged your boyfriend."

It took everything in me to walk away sans fistfuls of those girls' hair – or, should I say, hair extensions. I found Freya in the lobby, giving me a concerned look, "Are you OK? You look like your urge to kill is at red alert, hon."

"It's getting there," I said as I walked out to the front of the building. I found a group of smokers outside and bummed a Parliament off a guy with a faux-hawk, who gave me an appreciative once-over. _I could totally flirt with this guy_, I thought briefly, _how would Jasper like that? I can sleep around too, right? If Jasper can, I can, too._

Wait…what the hell am I think? I'm not sinking down to anyone else's level – not Jasper's and not that girl in the bathroom's, either. I'm going to rise above everything…right after I finish this cigarette.

I found it soothing to inhale the smoke. I tried smoking once when I was 15, and swore I'd never do it again. Guess I'm just becoming very adept at breaking all my old vows to myself. Or, perhaps I'm just a glutton for punishment – who knows?

Freya found me outside and gave me a disapproving glance, "Alice, you don't smoke."

"Every bad habit needs to start somewhere, right?" I asked.

The guy in the faux-hawk laughed, "Absolutely! And, hey, if I can contribute to your bad habits anymore tonight, just let me know." He winked at me before ashing his cigarette against the brick wall and walking back into the theater.

I finished my cigarette as Freya stood there staring at me in disbelief. "What happened? You were in such a good mood a few minutes ago."

"Yeah, well things change."

"It was one of those girls, wasn't it?" She asked as she turned me to face her, "I saw them go into the bathroom after you. Did they say something?"

I looked away, but Freya refused to let go of my shoulders. I finally met her gaze with tears in my eyes, "Jasper's cheating on me with one of those girls."

"She told you that?"

I nodded.

"And you believed her?"

I took a deep breath, "New Years' Eve, I found a new box of condoms in our medicine cabinet…and, we haven't used any in months."

"It could have been left over from when you guys did use them," she said.

"No," I shook my head, "It was brand new, like purchased just days before. I don't even know if the box had been opened yet."

She sighed and ran her hands up and down my arms gently, "Well, then you need to confront him. And do it calmly and maturely."

I nodded, "I know. I just don't know when or how."

"Tonight," she said. "You're going to make him go home right after the concert to talk, or else you'll lose your nerve."

Freya and I remained outside until I calmed down completely and knew exactly what I was going to say to Jasper. I found him backstage with the guys, and those other girls were lingering nearby. The one girl laughed to her friends as I approached Jasper cautiously.

"We need to talk," I told him quietly.  
"Sure," he replied as he took me to a secluded corner.

"Not here," I said. "We need to talk at home…please?"

He looked as though he was going to refuse, but my pout and still red-rimmed eyes seemed to convince him of the importance of this talk. He told Dave we were turning in for the night and began to walk out. But, before we could leave the green room, the girl reached out and grabbed Jasper's arm. "Where are you going, lover?"

He gave her a shocked expression, but didn't rebuke her claims the way I hoped he would. He simply pulled his arm away and walked us out faster. The car ride home was so quiet I could hear a cricket in the backseat of the truck chirping. Jasper kept shooting anxious glances in my direction, but I kept my eyes forward, not ready to meet his gaze for fear I'd just burst into tears.

Once we were back in the apartment, I sat on the couch without a word while he paced the room sighing and running his hands through his blonde hair. He finally stopped and faced me, determined.

"Look…what that girl said back there," he began, "It didn't mean anything."

"So, you haven't slept with her?" I asked, "Her, or that Jenna girl?"

He hesitated ever so slightly, enough to make me doubt his next words. "No…never. I told you I'd never hurt you, Alice. I've never been anything but faithful to you."

"What about the condoms?"

"What condoms?"

"The ones you have in the medicine cabinet," I said, my voice raising a bit more than I'd wanted it to.

"I bought those months ago," he said, "When we were still using them."

I stood and marched into the bathroom to see if the box was still there. It was. And it was unopened. I turned and threw the box at him, hitting him square in the chest.

"Why is it brand new, then?" I asked.

He was officially at a loss for words. He had let the box drop to the floor and stood before me with his jaw hanging open. In one, simple act of silence he confirmed everything to me. My boyfriend, the loving man who said he'd never hurt me, was a cheating asshole.

I grabbed my keys and headed for the door, "Goodbye, Jasper."

**OK, this is not the end, don't worry. Jasper will try to win her back.**

**And, I'm sorry I'm being slow in updating this, but it takes longer to truly get into this than my other story. So, the updates will take some time, but I want them to be the best quality possible. **

**Once again, thanks for reading!**


	14. Chapter 14

I arrived on Bella's doorstep again. And, I was prepared to grovel for her forgiveness. Everything she and Rosalie had said about me changing and how it all had to do with my relationship with Jasper turned out to be right.

She opened the door in her PJs, a glass of red wine in her hand. She beheld me with wide, curious eyes, "Alice, what's wrong?"

"Jasper's been cheating on me," I told her. "I just really need a place to stay right now..."

My voice trailed off as I attempted to keep my composure. Unfortunately, I didn't take into account the possibility of Bella having a guest over. I should have known, on a Friday night, my brother would be there with her.

"What?!" Edward yelled as he jumped off the couch. "OK, where is that asshole?"

He started grabbing his coat and shoes as though he were going to run out right that second and defend my honor. I put my hands on his shoulders to try and calm him down.

"He's at our apartment," I said. "But, I want you to promise me you won't go over there and start anything. I just want to put this all behind me."

"Oh Al, I'm so sorry," Bella said as she pulled me in for a hug. "I know all you wanted was to be in a nice, functional relationship. But, don't worry, one day you'll find a guy who treats you right."

Edward still stood there like he was debating whether or not to drive over and kick Jasper's ass. I gave him a look of warning and he finally sat back down. As I looked around Bella's place, I noticed the two of them had set up a romantic evening in together.

"Oh...I'm so sorry, you guys," I said. "I'm interrupting—I'll just go over to Freya and Dave's place..."

"No you won't," Edward said. "You'll stay right here. I don't want you out of my sight right now."

I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn't see in the darkness of the living room. "Fine, big brother, I'll stay."

"Damn straight," he said as he patted the spot on the couch next to him, indicating I should take a seat.

Bella went and poured me a glass of wine, and Edward offered me some of the fondue Bella had made. We sat and ate and talked for hours, and I fully realized how much I really had changed when I was with Jasper. And, I didn't like it at all.

As I fell asleep on Bella's couch that night, I thought about what had happened over the past few months, and I realized I was falling into the same pattern with Jasper as I had with James. Only this time, it was emotional abuse instead of physical—which was, perhaps, even worse.

When I woke up the next morning, I could feel the grainy texture of dried tears against my cheeks. I'm sure I looked a mess, and as I walked to the bathroom to wash my face, my fears were confirmed. My mascara and eyeliner, which looked so awesome the night before, had melted into rivers of black and gray smudges down my face. I washed it all away and sat on the toilet in quiet contemplation.

Edward knocked on the door a moment later, "Ali? Are you alright?"

"Almost," I said. "I think I just need another minute or so...if you have to pee, remember there is a bush outside."

He chuckled, "Yeah, I could also use the kitchen sink or the side of the building, but I won't. What do you want for breakfast?"

"I don't care. Whatever you want is fine with me."

"OK, lox and bagels it is, then."

I laughed as my brother retreated from the bathroom door. After another two minutes of thinking, I finally stood up and exited my sanctuary. I was immediately met by Bella, who gave me a concerned look.

"Hey, how do you feel?"

"Fine," I said—it actually wasn't that big of a lie, either.

"Are you sure? You were crying a lot last night."

Damn, I hadn't thought my sobs had been loud enough for anyone to hear. I put an arm around her shoulders and walked her into the living room, "I'm fine, really. I think I just needed to cry it all out."

She pulled away slightly to get a better look at my face, "Really?" Her skepticism was beyond evident in her eyes.

"Yes, really," I said. "Now, no more need to worry, OK? I've had my cry and I'm moving on!"

"That's great news, Al," Edward said as he emerged from the kitchen, "Because, my friend from work, Ben, is on the market again, as well. I think you two would hit it off."

"Edward," Bella hissed, "You can't just set her up right after a breakup!!"

"Actually," I countered, "I think it would be a great idea. Tell him to call me, bro."

A part of me said agreed with Bella—it was too soon to be dating someone else. But, an even bigger part said to go for it—if Jasper can see other people, so can I. In fact, it was absolutely justified...and necessary.

Edward made pancakes, and we all sat down and chatted like old times. Edward even made plans for all of us to hang out with Emmett and Rosalie at Emmett's place, like we used to. I rushed to the shower and got myself nice and clean before Bella had the opportunity to spend an hour getting ready—I wasn't in the mood to wait on her today. I borrowed an outfit from Bella, and threw it on in her bedroom as I heard someone strumming a guitar just outside Bella's balcony. The music was accompanied by a very familiar voice, sweetly singing my favorite song.

"_Buy the sky and sell the sky / and tell the sky, and tell the sky to...fall...on...meeeee...."_

I grimaced as I listened to Jasper out there, trying to win me over with a song. It was sweet, yet pathetic. And, the most pathetic part of all was it was almost working. I opened the blind on Bella's bedroom window and saw him standing there earnestly strumming. His eyes were closed and he looked as though he were really getting into it.

Edward walked into the room and I could have sensed his anger from a mile away.

"You stay right here, I'm gonna go take care of that asshole," he told me before storming back out towards the living room.

"No Edward, don't do it—he's not worth it," I said, but it was too late. My brother opened the sliding glass door and approached Jasper in just two, quick steps. The results of Edward's blow were a broken guitar neck and Jasper lying in a head on Bella's balcony.

"Edward!" I screamed as I pulled my brother away, "What have you done?! Look at him!"

"He got what he deserved," Edward said as he pulled me back into the apartment.

He held onto my wrists and wouldn't let me go see if Jasper was alright. I struggled against him in a blind panic, "Let me go!"

"Alice, stop!" Edward commanded, "Go into Bella's room and wait for me there."

"No!" I cried as I continued to struggle, "Let me see him, I want to make sure he's OK."

Suddenly, Jasper was back on his feet and standing right at the sliding glass door.

"Guess I did deserve that, Edward," he said. My brother whipped around and approached him again, but this time Jasper was braced for the onslaught of Edward's fury. He held up his hands, "I don't want to fight you, man! I just wanted to beg for Alice's forgiveness."

"She doesn't accept," Edward replied in a menacing voice. "Now, leave before I throw your ass over that railing."

"That's what you're going to have to do then, Edward. Because I'm not leaving here until Alice forgives me. In fact, I'll camp out on Bella's balcony all day, every day, until I have my Alice back."

"Oh, so you're a cheater and a stalker now? That just gives me more reason to pummel your ass into oblivion."

Jasper shrugged, "Fair enough—go right ahead."

Edward raised a fist into the air to punch him again, but dropped it instead. He glared at Jasper for a moment before taking him by the shirt collar and dragging him to the balcony door.

"Fine, you want to camp out, there you go," Edward said as he shoved Jasper outside and closed the door behind him. He locked the latch on the door's handle and set up the wooden dowel that blocked the door from sliding back, just for a little extra security.

Jasper picked up the remnants of his guitar just as Edward shut the Venetian blinds on him and led me away.

"Come on, if that asshole's going to be here all day, we're just going to leave."

I knew arguing would be useless, so I let Edward steer me into the kitchen while we waited for Bella to finish in the bathroom. She was completely oblivious to what had just transpired, so when she walked out and saw the angry expression on Edward's face, she got nervous.

"What happened?"

"Nothing," Edward said, grabbing his coat from the back of his chair, "Let's get going."

Edward drove us to Emmett's place, fuming the entire time. Bella sat in the front, glancing back and forth between me and Edward. I could tell she was most likely going to corner me sometime today and get the truth out of me.

Honestly, I was more torn than I've ever been in my life. As much as I wanted to just forget Jasper and move on, that serenade was hard to ignore. As many times as James had screwed up while we were together, he never went that far to win me back. And, Jasper did seem honestly contrite.

I was brought out of my inner turmoil by Edward pulling up to Emmett's place—a nice little home he bought recently to prove to Rosalie he was ready to settle down. We walked inside to see Emmett still glued to the TV screen, playing Halo, as usual. He gave us all a nod of greeting and continued on with his game.

I sat next to him timidly, feeling a little hurt when he ignored me. I knew it wasn't just because he was so engrossed with his game—he was still upset with me. My oldest brother was going to be more difficult to win back than Edward was. Probably because our relationship had always been a little bit closer—he was my teddy bear and I was his Ali-Angel. I was so afraid I had completely lost that dynamic with him.

I sighed and curled up next to him sadly. Luckily, his icy exterior seemed to slowly melt away.

"Ali, you OK?"

I shook my head. He set down his controller and turned to me with concern.

"What did that bastard do? Did he hurt you?" He asked as he took me into a big hug.

"He cheated on me," I said.

His hug got even more intense. He pulled away slightly to look at Edward, "What are we going to do about this?"

"Don't worry," Edward replied. "I took care of him."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bella asked.

Edward shook his head and put his arm around Bella's waist lightly, "Nothin'."

"Just tell her, Edward," I cried. "You punched him in the face."

"What?!" Bella said as she turned to Edward and glared at him incredulously. "Edward! Do you want to get arrested?"

Emmett, however, took a different approach, "Good job, little bro. Did you knock him out?"

"For a little bit," I replied. "And, he broke his guitar."

"His guitar?" Emmett asked, "What, did you break it over his head? Please tell me you did."

"No, he just had it in his hands," Edward said. "He was trying to serenade Alice out on the balcony."

"Where was I when this was going on?" Bella asked.

"In the shower," I said. "He showed up just before we left."

"Wait, is he still there?" Emmett asked.

"I'm sure he is," Edward replied. "He said he's staying there until Alice takes him back."

"Oh great, now I've got a squatter on my balcony," Bella whined.

"Don't worry, Bells," Emmett said as he stood up, "We'll go take care of him right now."

"No! Will you guys just stop?" I cried. "It's over and now I want to move on, OK?"  
"Hey, not fair!" Emmett said as he turned to me, disgruntled. "I didn't get my shot at him. I want to punch that smug douche bag in the face, too."

"Emmett, no punching douche bags," Rosalie said as she walked into the living room. "Besides, Alice has been through enough already."

I gave her a weak smile as she crossed the room to sit beside me. She hugged my tightly around my shoulders, "I'm sorry, Ali. Will you ever forgive me for being such a bitch?"

"Forgive you? I was the one being a stupid bitch, Rose! Do you forgive me?"

"Of course," she laughed.

Bella sat on the other side of me and the two of them engulfed me in a big hug. We all sat there and enjoyed the feeling of being close again, while my brothers sat back and smiled at our reunion. That is, until Emmett had to be Emmett.

"Dude, if that wasn't our sister in the middle of that, it'd be so hot."

"Emmett, you're a sick bastard," Edward said, shaking his head in disgust.

"What? I'm just sayin'."

Rosalie ordered a few pizzas as the boys went to Blockbuster to get some DVDs for the night. We decided to all stay in and relax. I was just glad to be back with my family, the people who truly love me. The pizza arrived just minutes before the boys got back, and I was in the kitchen, getting plates and drinks out for everybody, when Emmett and Edward walked in, talking excitedly.

It sounded like they had a third person with them. My theory was confirmed when I walked into the living room and saw a tall guy with black hair and copper skin hanging out with my brothers. He was gorgeous and had a big, bright smile. But, I knew I couldn't let myself get sucked in—it was an obvious set-up.

I walked into the living room with three beers in my hands, and Emmett immediately motioned for me to come over.

"Al, this is Jacob; you remember him, right?" He said, "He's our old friend from school, he used to play wide receiver for the team."

Now that I thought about it, he did look familiar. I remember running into him at various parties, and did actually think he was very cute. Unfortunately, I was with James at the time. His eyes raked down my body as I turned to him, but the look in his eyes wasn't salacious or possessive in anyway. He just seemed like a very sweet, genuine guy. But, then again, where have I seen that before?

I handed Jacob a beer, "It's nice to see you again."

"Yeah, nice to see you, too," Jacob said. "What have you been up to these days?"

"Oh, the three of us," I motioned to me, Rose and Bella, "started our own graphic design firm. I'm the main graphic design artist."

"Actually, Al, come Monday you're going to be the only graphic artist there," Rose said ominously.

I shot her a warning glance and turned back to Jacob, "What about you? What have you been up to?"

"I work at IBM," he said, adding a little knowing chuckle, "I'm just a computer geek, IT guy."

"That sounds like fun, though; especially if that's what you want to do in life."

"Well, not for the rest of my life," he said. "I'd like to have my own company where I just get to sit around and fix computers all day. But, that's still a few years off."

We all sat around and started watching one of the movies. I laid on one of Rosalie's big throw pillows on the floor, and Jacob sat beside me so the couples could share the couch and loveseat. It was clear no one had any real interest in the movie, though, as my brothers were making out with my best friends, and Jacob and I simply talked the entire time.

He was actually a very easy guy to talk to, very warm and personable. He grew up in Denver, where his dad still lives. His mom died when he was very young, and he felt that made him have to grow up a little bit faster than most kids. We talked all night, even after everyone else went to sleep.

I found a bottle of Wild Turkey in Emmett's cupboard as I was searching for a glass for some soda. Jacob laughed, "Wow, your brother likes the strong stuff."

I turned to him, "Want some shots?"

"Sure," he said.

We walked back into the now vacant living room and passed the bottle back and forth between us as we talked more and more. With each passing moment, we seemed to get closer and closer—literally, we kept scooting closer together as the Wild Turkey was slowly drained from the bottle.

Jacob finally set the booze aside and leaned himself against the throw pillows on the floor. He gazed at me, eyes a bit glazed but still warm and friendly, "You know, I had a bit of a crush on you in college."

"Really?" I kind of already knew that, but I didn't want him to feel stupid. "I always thought you were cute, too. But, I had this stupid boyfriend who ended up being the world's biggest asshole...well, maybe second biggest. My last boyfriend was kind of a tool, too, so it's kind of a toss up at this point."

The Wild Turkey was definitely getting to me; why else would I be spilling my guts about past relationships to a guy I've just really started getting to know? Jacob took my hands into his and pulled me towards his warm, firm chest.

"I'm sorry to hear that," he whispered into my hair. "I know how badly guys can treat girls. My sister, Rachel, was dating this guy, Paul, for three years, and he was a complete D-Bag. He was hitting her and she never told anybody. Of course, if she had told me, I would have pounded that guy into a grease stain on the pavement."

I laughed, "You sound like my brothers."

"Did they ever get to beat up either of your two, loser boyfriends?"

"Kind of," I replied, "Edward punched Jasper in the face after he cheated on me."

Jacob bristled at what Jasper had done. I put a hand on his shoulder to sooth him, "It's OK, it's over now."

"Good," he said quietly, turning my face up to his, "Because, you are far too amazing to be in that kind of situation."

He brushed his lips over mine briefly, but I pulled away. "No…it's too soon."

"I know, I'm sorry, Alice," he said as he rolled onto his back and put his hands over his face. "We should just call it a night. I think we're both a bit tipsy right now."

"Yeah," I said simply, standing to go up to one of Emmett's guest rooms. "I'll see you tomorrow, Jacob."

"Good night."

It was the first time in a long time I fell asleep without thinking of either Jasper or James. And, it was so freeing, it brought tears to my eyes. Unfortunately, I woke up the next day to more than twenty new voice mails and text messages from Jasper. I sat in Emmett's extra bed and debated what to do next. I decided to set my phone aside and just let all events unfold as they may.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N - I don't lay claim to writing the lyrics found here within, they belong to the group P.M. Dawn (from the song "Die Without You"). I just thought they expressed utter despair most succinctly.**

Luckily, Jasper gave up the ghost after the first night and left Bella's balcony. Though, he did leave the broken pieces of his guitar as a reminder.

Well, I guess now comes the fun part. I have to return to work on Monday, witness Rosalie fire Jasper and then proceed to arrange a time when I can get my stuff moved out of his apartment.

His apartment. For the past few months, I had considered it our apartment. How quickly these things can change.

Bella lent me some more clothes and we walked into work with Rosalie, a veritable united front. They held my hands as we entered and I followed Bella into her office. We had planned out the day down to the letter — Rosalie would call Jasper in and give him his walking papers, and then Bella and I would walk in to talk about a moving schedule. Both Emmett and Edward were on notice to come to Boulder at any time...for any reason.

That was the plan — too bad nothing I ever plan for turns out the way I hoped. Jasper didn't show up for work.

"Where is that asshole?" Rose shouted as she paced around the front lobby.

"Maybe we'll luck out and he'll just skip town," Bella suggested.

Rosalie rolled her eyes at Bella and we continued to sit in the lobby and wait for him. I started to get anxious. "Rose, I've got work to do — that line I'm creating for Burton isn't going to design itself."

"You've got plenty of time," she spat. "It takes you, what, thirty seconds to design a snowboard? Just chill a little longer."

And we did chill. We chilled for eight straight hours in the lobby of our building. At one point, Karen did call for pizza, thankfully; but the day was otherwise unproductive. I hate days like that.

I considered calling the management of Jasper's apartment complex to see if they'd let me into his place. But, he never put me as a resident of the apartment, so I had no rights as a tenant. I just had to wait and hear from Jasper, because I really didn't feel like calling him.

And, it seemed as though he had no interest in getting a hold of me. Or anybody else for that matter. When he didn't show up for work Tuesday, I called Dave to see if he'd heard anything from him.

"Nope," he said bitterly. "And, frankly, I hope I never hear from him again. After what he did to you, he's totally out of the band."

"Well...will you let me know if he does call you?" I asked with little hope. "I'd like to get my stuff back."

"Sure thing," Dave replied.

Wednesday rolled around, and still no Jasper. I was actually starting to get worried. I called the office of his apartment complex and asked if they would check on him for me, and they said his truck was there, but he wouldn't answer the door. I knew what had to be done, and it pained me to do it — I had to make an appearance to see if I could coax him out of hiding.

I drove over after work on Friday and knocked on his door cautiously.

"Jasper? It's Alice."

Nothing. I stood there for five minutes and not a sound emanated from that apartment. I tried again, this time a little louder.

"Jasper! Answer the door, please!" I banged my fist against the door until I finally heard footsteps approaching. Jasper flung the door open and stood there, disheveled. He looked like he hadn't slept for days, and he was wearing the same clothes he wore on Saturday, so I assumed he hadn't showered in all that time, either.

"What? What the fuck do you want?" He asked as he glared at me through bleary eyes.

"You haven't showed up for work, so I got worried," I explained simply.

He scoffed, "Fuck you, you got worried. You broke up with me, remember? I'm no longer your concern."

I ignored his bluster and continued. "Be that as it may, I still want my stuff back. And I can't get my clothes or my furniture out of storage without you. So, do you mind helping me out? It is the least you can do for me."

He stood back slightly and his eyes turned dark and fierce. "The least I can do for you?"

"Yes, I may have broken up with you, but you were the one who cheated."

His eyes narrowed, looking even more menacing. "Am I going to have to pay for that for the rest of my life? How many times do I have to say I'm sorry before you start to believe me? I love you, Alice! I never meant to hurt you."

His voice broke on that last statement, and he crumpled to the floor, bawling. I sure as hell wasn't expecting this. Jasper was a shell of his former self, and it was breaking my heart. Am I being too unreasonable? Sometimes a cheater can repent, right?

I knelt next to him and set a gentle hand on his back to soothe him.

"Shhhh, Jasper. It's going to be alright."

"No it's not," he bawled. "Can't you see, Alice? I can't live without you! Please, you have to believe me! This is killing me!"

I sighed heavily and rested my back against the door. We sat there, half in the hallway, half in his apartment, for an hour. My phone kept buzzing — calls and texts from my friends and brothers, no doubt — but I ignored it. I rubbed Jasper's back gently while he cried. Every now and then, he would say something about how sorry he was and how much he needed me. I glanced into his apartment and could certainly attest to his needing me around. The place looked like shit.

I finally managed to get him off the floor and onto the couch so I could make him some tea and get him to calm down. I wrapped him in a blanket and turned the TV to Sports Center before tidying up a few things. I took a stack of papers Jasper had been scribbling on and the words caught my eye.

_...is it my turn to totally understand...to watch you walk out of my life, and not do a damn thing?_

A little further down the page, it read:

_...is it my turn to be the one to cry? Isn't it amazing how some things completely turn around?_

The pages were stained with tears and a light-brown substance I assumed was some kind of alcohol. And, sure enough, there were two empty bottles of Wild Turkey on the floor under the coffee table. I placed the papers in a big manila folder and threw the bottles into the garbage as the tea kettle started whistling. I poured two cups of tea in the kitchen, and then, suddenly, felt a pair of arms wrap around me tightly.

"I miss this," he whispered.

I sighed, "It's only been a week, Jasper."

"That's far too long, darlin'," he told me. "Just a day apart was hell for me; this is just beyond torture."

I didn't say anything; I just stirred some sugar and honey into his tea and handed it to him.

"Don't you miss me at all?" He asked, wounded.

"I...I don't know yet, Jasper. You really hurt me — whether it was intentional or not. I can't just forgive you and pretend nothing ever happened."

"I don't expect you to," he replied, voice still shaky and small. "Just...please don't give up on me...on us? Please?"

His arms tightened around my waist and he set his tea on the counter. Jasper pressed his cheek against the top of my head and I could feel his body still shaking slightly from his sobs. My mind was torn between wanting to believe him, and knowing this could just be manipulation. I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt...but with reservations.

"If we're going to make this work, I need to know I can trust you again," I told him as I placed my hands on top of his and slowly pulled them away from my body. "I do love you, Jasper. But, if I ever hear of you cheating on me again, that's it — I'm out of here at a moment's notice."

I felt him nodding vigorously, "I understand, darlin'. But, I'm never going to do that to you again. I swear on my mother's life."

I rolled my eyes at the hyperbole, and turned to him finally. His eyes were filled with a strange mix of love, regret and sadness. He waited anxiously for me to say something, and I looked down to where our hands were still clasped together and chose my words carefully.

"OK, Jasper we will try again," I said. He bent his head and kissed me gently on top of mine. I glanced back up with a smirk, "But you will be sleeping on the couch tonight. You know that, right?"

He smiled for the first time since I arrived, "Yes ma'am."

I ordered us some Chinese takeout, and we watched a movie on his couch. When there came a knock on the door, I stood to answer, assuming it was our food. Boy was I wrong.  
"What the hell are you doing here?" Emmett practically screamed at me as he barged his way in. Rosalie followed close behind, giving me a skeptical look, while Edward entered last. My middle brother looked hurt, actually hurt, that I dared show up at Jasper's place.

This was going to take some seriously stealthy maneuvering on my part.

"I can explain," I began — OK, not off to a good start.

The three of them beheld me incredulously before turning on Jasper.

"Well, I see you are neither sick nor dead," Rosalie said condescendingly. "Mind telling me why you were a no-show at work this week?"

Jasper laughed weakly, "Don't know if you can tell, but I was really in no shape to work this week. I've kind of been wallowing in depression and self-loathing."

"Regardless," Rose continued, unfazed by his pitiful state, "You're fired...you did figure that was going to happen, right?"

Jasper nodded slowly, "I'm not as dumb as you think I am."

"That's yet to be proven," Edward replied as he stared Jasper down from the vicinity of the entertainment center. He turned to me and shook his head, "Alice, tell me you're not considering taking him back! This is all just part of his game — keeping you under his control. He's just like James, once you show him your weaknesses; he'll exploit them and make you want to stay. You're so much better than this; you deserve more."

"You don't understand," I said. Where had all my resolve to tell them off gone? "I...I love him. And he's not manipulating me; it's not what you think...not like it was before."

"Listen to you," Emmett said. "You can't even convince yourself of that bullshit you're saying. It's wrong, Alice...it's just wrong."

I let their words sink in, but instead of taking them to heart, I let them make me bitter and defensive.

"This is none of your business," I yelled. "Just...leave me alone. Leave us alone. If you can't trust me enough to see I know what I'm doing this time, then you must not really love me."

Three faces I have known and loved for all my life stared back at me — hurt, confused and angry. They stalked out in single file without another word and I flopped onto the couch in tears.

Jasper put his arms around me and I cried on his shoulder until I soaked through his shirt. I finally looked up at him, "What have I done?"

"You didn't do anything," he said. "Don't worry, love, I'll prove to them I'm really going to change this time. I'll show them how much I love you. And then, they'll come around. They do love you, so much...they just want what's best for you. I need to show them what's best for you is me."

I nodded solemnly. "You're right. But, I should call and apologize just the same. I'll call them all tomorrow."

"You do that, darlin'," he said gently as he kissed my left temple.

Our food showed up not long after that, and I gorged myself on chicken lo mein. Once I had my fill, I yawned and stretched dramatically.

"I'm going to bed," I said. "It's been a long day...in so many ways."

"Good night," he replied. "I'll see you in the morning."

Jasper was good on our agreement — he slept on the couch all night. I, however, woke up in that familiar, comfy bed and felt a little bit empty inside. I'm not sure if it was because I woke up alone when I'm used to having Jasper wrapped around me, or because I felt I was losing touch with my family again. As soon as I rolled out of bed, I gave Edward a call. He was either not awake or just avoiding my call, because I was forced to leave a voice mail. Same with Emmett.

I decided to try Rosalie.

"Hello?" She answered warily.

"Rose, I'm sorry," I said sadly. "I know you love me and want what's best for me, but I also need you to trust me on this...please?"

She sighed, "You're lucky you're my best friend, you know that? How many other people would get this kind of leniency from me? Fine! But, as soon as that mother fucker starts acting up again...and he will...you'd better get your ass out of that situation before he drags you down again."

"Don't worry, it won't come to that."

She laughed humorlessly, "Whatever you say."

We said our goodbyes and hung up. I felt slightly better — at least my best friend didn't hate me. But, I just wish Edward and Emmett could give me a second chance. I walked into the living room to find Jasper still asleep. Letting him get a little more rest, I went into the kitchen to make some coffee and see what there was in terms of breakfast food. It was pretty barren. In fact, cold Chinese food was pretty much the only option at this point. And, really, I wasn't in the mood for that.

I put on some sweatpants and my jacket before slipping on my adidas and heading out the door. The King Soopers was just down the street, so I walked and enjoyed the crisp morning air. I got some essentials — eggs, bacon, bread, milk, etc. — before returning to the apartment to find Jasper awake and worried.

"I wish you would have left me a note," he said as he pulled me into a hug. "I almost thought I'd lost you again."

I chuckled softly, "Sorry...but I was only gone for half an hour."

"Still," he said, "We're both in a fragile state right now...best to be extra careful, hm?"

I nodded and set the food on the kitchen table. He dug through the groceries and smiled sweetly, "You didn't have to go shopping love. Or, at least you could have woken me up and we could have gone together."

"I wanted you to get some sleep," I said. "You don't look like you've been doing much of that lately."

"That's true," he said. "But still, I want to be the one who takes care of you, not the other way around."

I placed my hands on either side of his face and looked deep into his eyes, "Let's just take care of each other, OK?"  
He nodded. "Agreed."

**Will this bliss last for long? Stay tuned.**


	16. Author's note

**Hey guys, this is the linnybug, here. Sorry, this isn't a new chapter -- didn't mean to get your hopes up. It's just an author's note.**

Wow, so I've been a very bad author these days. Life has just been throwing me one curveball after another and I haven't been able to sit down and write. Not that I don't get the chance to do it, from time to time, it's just I haven't felt inspired.

One thing's for sure, I will finish the two stories I started what seems like ages ago. The thing I don't know is whether I'll write more after that when I'm done.

I want my stories – "Imitating Art" and "The life before her eyes" – to be finished, and written well. That may take me a while, because I don't want to rush; I don't want them to suck! However, I feel like I'm neglecting what it is I really want to do: write a novel to submit to a publishing company.

Sometimes I feel like writing on , while being a great way to hone my skills, is something of a cop-out. Like I'm compensating for not getting on track with my goals by having this other outlet, as rewarding to my ego as it may be.

So, yes, I will finish my stories. It could take me weeks, even months, but it will be done.

And, hopefully, I will get inspired to actually put all my effort into some serious novel writing over the next few months.

**Thank you all for your support; you readers are the best.**


	17. Chapter 17

So, back to business as usual? Not so much, but with each new day I was letting Jasper back into my life, little by little. It started out with a gentle kiss on my cheek as I headed off to work on Monday. He was staying home and looking for a new job.

I knew I couldn't convince Rose to give him his old one back, so I wouldn't even bother to try. And, really, I think us not sharing an office space would be beneficial for the relationship right now. It would be too much too soon.

When I got home from work each night, dinner was ready for me. And it was always something I loved.

"Trying to fatten me up?" I asked as he set a plate of chicken enchiladas before me.

"Not possible," he smirked. "You're nothing but a bundle of kinetic energy. It would take enough food to kill an elephant to put weight on you."

He was probably right. I dug into his delicious dinner as he made small talk about my day. Same ol' same, really—I get there, design some boards, hang with my best friends and then leave at 5 p.m. Best job in the world, as I've said time and again.

He said he had some interviews lined up for next week with a slew of different companies. There wasn't even a graphic designer job in the mix, which surprised me. He shrugged and said, "Maybe it's time for something new."

OK, I can swing with that, I guess. Just as long as I don't become his sugar momma. That would be all I needed, taking back my cheating boyfriend just to have him use me again. I think I'd finally snap and take him with me.

I sat on the couch while he washed the dishes and poured me a glass of wine. I have to admit, he makes one cute little housewife. I'm thinking he might be a keeper.

As I watched some TV, he took my legs into his lap and massaged my feet. They weren't really aching, but it was nice all the same. If he was going to try and win my affections in this method, I was not going to stop him.

By the time Friday rolled around, he had spent almost a week on the couch. I wasn't sure if I was ready to let him back into bed with me. That night, after we had sat in the living room watching TV, I stood and made my way into the bathroom. I gazed into the mirror as an internal battle raged on just behind my eyes—am I going to let him back into bed tonight? Is it too soon? I mean, letting him sleep in his own bed would be a good reward for being so patient and loving this past week. And, it's not like I'm going to let him get much more than a goodnight kiss.

I brushed my teeth and washed my face, still debating the issue. When I walked into the living room, he was dozing off already. I watched as his chest raised softly, his breath becoming steady and shallow. His head lolled off to the side as his eyelids drifted dangerously close to shut.

"Jasper?" I called softly.

His eyes shot all the way open as he gazed at me. "Yeah kitten?"

I wasn't sure if I liked that nickname anymore, but decided to let it slide. "Do...do you want to come and sleep in your own bed tonight?"

He raised an eyebrow, "Have I earned that yet?"

I nodded, "I think so. You've been amazing this past week. And, I have to admit, it's been kind of lonely in bed without you."

He smiled that big, bright grin at me and stood up slowly. I went to the closet to put on my pajamas—a pair of pink shorts and a tank top. When I got back to the bedroom, he was lying there, sans shirt. I hope that's all he decided to remove tonight; I might have a difficult time controlling my hormones as it is.

I stretched out next to him and he pulled me close, I could sense he was hoping for a good make out session. I put my hands on his chest to keep him at bay. "Jas, not tonight. You've been good...but not THAT good. Not yet, anyway."

For a split second, he looked very upset; but he recovered quickly and nodded in agreement. "You're right, and I won't push you."

He rolled onto his back and pulled me to his side so I could rest my head on his shoulder. This had been our usual sleeping position—the one that had, so many nights before, put me at ease and made me believe nothing in the world could hurt me. It was still so very comfortable, but not the same as it used to be.

I lifted my head and gazed up at him. "Goodnight, Jasper." I planted a soft kiss at the corner of his mouth before resuming my position and drifting off to sleep. This is going to get easier, I told myself. It has to.

Time seemed to fly by after that. Jasper got a job working for a local publishing company, and we worked ourselves into a nice little routine. We left for work and got home at the same time every day, and we made dinner together. Just one, happy couple.

I even, tentatively, started letting him get more intimate with me. After three weeks, I took him by the hand and led him into our bedroom. I pushed him down on the bed and slowly removed the turquoise dress I was wearing, letting it slide down my legs to the floor. I was just as slow removing my bra. I tossed it into his face and he chuckled softly.

"You don't have to do this, darlin'," he told me. "Not if you're not...you know...comfortable yet."

I hooked my thumbs under the sides of my panties and gave him a wicked grin. "Do you think you're the only who's been going through sex withdrawals, babe? You've been such a good boy, and I need a release so badly."

I let the last sentence flow from my lips in a low, husky voice that caused Jasper to narrow his eyes seductively and growl deep in his throat. "You're gonna be the death of me, Alice."

"We'll see about that," I said as I kicked the panties to the side and stalked slowly towards him. I swayed my hips from side to side in an exaggerated fashion as I made my approach. Jasper, being a good little boy, didn't make a move for me. Instead, he let me lead on this one. He seemed a tad unsure of my actions, as though he thought I might decided I didn't really want to do this after all. But I do...boy do I ever.

I removed his shirt with ease before lavishing attention on his naked chest. He still amazed me after all this time—so skinny and yet so defined and muscular. Jasper laid back and let me have my way with him, giving me little moans of encouragement along the way.

Once I had him naked, I worked my way up to his chest again and straddled his hips. I had contemplated giving him a blow job, but decided I was going to really make him earn that one. And besides, this is all about me right now, selfish as that sounds.

When his hands went instinctively to my hips, I grabbed him by the wrists and pushed his arms up against the headboard.

"No," I said, "You don't get to touch until you're told, understood?"

He nodded wordlessly. And he obeyed brilliantly from then on. Once I had released his hands, they rested at his sides until I moved them for him—first to cup my breast as I started grinding against him slowly, and then to grab a hold of my ass when we really got into it.

The release was so intense, it almost made me break down into tears. But, I wasn't ready to give Jasper that kind of control over my emotions yet. I held it together, even as he pulled me near and cradled me in his arms as we drifted off to sleep. My last thought before my fatigue overtook me was a reminder to not let my guard down completely. Something in my heart told me I couldn't give Jasper all of my trust—not yet, anyway.

The next morning, he woke me with breakfast in bed—our new Saturday morning ritual. I sat up and blew on the coffee he handed to me to cool it down before taking that first, wonderful sip. He placed a tray full of massive amounts of eggs, bacon, toast and hashbrowns on my lap, half of which I assumed he would help me eat. I turned to place the coffee on my bedside table and when I turned back, his face was just inches from mine.

"Mornin' darlin'," he drawled out before leaning in for a kiss. As we pulled apart, I gazed into his eyes and saw them to be full of love, but with a hint of satisfaction behind it—this made me a bit nervous. "So, what do we want to do today?"

I grabbed one of the forks on the tray and began to stuff my mouth full of food to avoid an immediate answer. Then it hit me – it's time to patch things up with a few people in my life. I swallowed the toast lingering in my mouth and gave Jasper a mischievous grin, "Well, I was hoping we could spend some time with my brothers, Bella and Rosie today."

His face dropped so quickly, I thought for a moment he'd had a stroke. "Oh...really, all of them? How about we just hang with Bella...and, maybe Edward?"

"Oh, no, no, no, no...you know my brothers are a packaged deal," I said, trying to sound innocent. "Besides, Rosalie said they were all going to head over to the 16th Street Mall today...my henpecked bros got roped into a shopping trip."

His smile returned at this little quip at my brothers' expense. "Well, I guess it won't be that bad."

"That settles it, then," I said with finality as we finished our breakfast.

The ride to Denver was a little bit tense. I could see Jasper mulling over every possible scenario in his head, hoping no physical confrontation comes to pass with either one of my brothers. I smiled internally, one thing I'll always have to fall back on are my big brothers. Speaking of which, they didn't seem all that thrilled at first to see me and Jasper stroll over to them, hand-in-hand.

I smiled to try and put them at ease, "Hey guys, how's it going?"

Emmett remained silent, glaring at Jasper as if to melt him with the sheer power of his hatred. Edward nodded and gave me a half-hearted attempt at a greeting, "'S fine, sis."

Thankfully, Bella and Rosalie were the buffers for today—they kept Emmett and Edward otherwise occupied as we walked along the mall. Rosie kept Emmett particularly busy once they happened upon a jewelry store.

"Em, look at that necklace, isn't it beautiful?" Emmett eyed the offending pendant suspiciously as Rosie began pointing out all of the things in the window she liked. Bella and Edward smiled and shook their heads in unison before continuing to wander down the street. I began to follow, but Jasper seemed distracted by something.

"What's wrong?" I asked softly as he gazed into the window of the jewelry store.

"Huh? Oh, nothing, I just need to use the restroom," he said quickly. "I'll catch up with you in a second."

"OK, don't be long," I said coyly as I moved to catch up with Bella and Edward. The two of them were heading into a Starbucks, so I quickly ducked inside with them to get something to drink. I ordered myself a green tea frappacino and decided to get a mocha frap for Jasper, since he's been such a good boy lately. I sat with Bella and Edward at a table near the window, so we could all flag down our missing members when they walked by.

But, there was a tension between Edward and me, I could tell he was still disappointed I had let Jasper back in my life. Bella sensed this tension as well and decided to try and break up the awkwardness.

"So, we're close to the movie theater here, aren't we? We should go see a movie, I haven't been to one in forever."

"Yeah," Edward replied simply, "That sounds like fun."

Emmett and Rosalie caught up with us a few minutes later, and I started to get worried about Jasper. I pulled out my phone and started texting him.

"Geez," Emmett muttered, "How long does it take to go to the bathroom?"

I shot him a withering glare after I pressed the send button. "I'm sure he's just fine."

As if on cue, Jasper walked in, glancing at his phone before walking over and giving me a big smile. "Sorry, darlin', I saw something on my way here and I just had to run into the store and grab it real quick."

"What did you get?" I asked, finally noticing the bag he was trying to hide behind his back.

"Nothin' special...you'll see later," he said, his voice dropping to a whisper on that last part. I rolled my eyes slightly at him—did he get me something he didn't want my brothers to see? Oh boy, tonight's going to be interesting.

I decided to ignore that nagging feeling I was getting once again and handed him his drink.

"Aw, thanks darlin', you didn't have to get me anything," he said as he planted a kiss on the side of my neck.

"I know, but I thought you could use something since it's so hot outside," I replied before taking a sip of my own drink. I noticed everyone else at the table was staring at us with expressions that ranged from sweet and understanding (Bella), to near homicidal, but trying to keep it on the inside (Emmett). I cleared my throat and tried to divert their attention. "So, Bella said we should go see a movie."

"Yeah, that sounds like fun," Rosalie replied—I think she could sense Emmett's barely concealed rage, as well.

"Actually," Emmett began, "I was hoping we could all get something to eat over at that ESPN Zone, I'm kind of hungry."

"Can't we do that after the movie, babe?" Rosalie asked.

Emmett gave Rosalie his patented puppy-dog eyes, "You'd make me wait two whole hours to eat?"

"Hey, I'm kinda hungry, too," Jasper announced. "Does that place have good food, Em?"

Emmett's expression lapsed back into one of disdain, "Yup, great food."

"And we can catch the Rockies game," Edward said, clapping a hand on Emmett's shoulder.

"Great," Rosie said with mock enthusiasm.

We all finished our coffees and headed over to the restaurant. It's basically like Chuck E. Cheese for grown men—so, not really my cup of tea. Plus, they charge way too much for beer. Our drinks had barely arrived when Emmett seemed to get uncharacteristically nice to Jasper. This had bad news written all over it.

"Hey, you play air hockey, man?" He asked Jasper, who gave him a bewildered look.

"Sure, I mean, I'm not great at it or anything, but I'll give it a shot."

"Come on; Edward, you too," Emmett motioned for our brother who sighed before lifting himself up to follow.

"I should go with them," I said nervously.

"Wait," Rosalie said, grabbing my hand as I tried to stand, "I think the boys just want to talk to Jasper alone."

"Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of," I said.

"Bella, they're not going to hurt him," Rosie countered. "They're just being protective," I gave her an exasperated glare, "OK, overprotective, but still, they just want what's best for you."

I hesitated ever so slightly; it wasn't like they were going to hit Jasper over the head and stuff him in the trunk of their car—were they? I stayed put with a sigh and sipped my Newcastle. Guess I'm just going to have to see where this day takes me.

Luckily, the boys came back after their first couple of games to place their orders.

"So, who's winning?" Bella asked as Edward sat next to her, draping his arm around her shoulders.

"Edward, of course," Emmett said, annoyed. "Beat both me and Jasper."

"I wanna play next," I said. "I bet I could beat Edward."

"Ohhhh! It's on, little sister," Edward said as we both jumped up and raced to the table. Jasper lingered back to sip his beer, so I took that opportunity to interrogate Edward a bit.

"So, what did you all talk about while you were playing?"

Edward, of course, knew exactly where I was going with this, "Nothing special. We didn't threaten his life, if that's what you're thinking."

"Good," I said. "And you'd better not; I'm handling this situation just fine on my own, thank you very much."

"Just like you handled the last Jasper situation?" He snapped suddenly.

It felt as though he slapped me across the face. I bit my lip to keep from whimpering and Edward was immediately contrite. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound like such an asshole. It's just...I don't want to see you hurt. I don't think I'll be able to control myself if he breaks your heart again."

"He won't," I said softly, "I won't let him. This relationship is on my terms now, and he knows that."

Edward's eyes darted over towards our table and his silence told me Jasper was approaching. Jas put his arm around me and kissed my cheek gently, "Well, little lady, let's see what you're made of, huh?"

"Yeah, I've got to see this," Emmett quipped, "I've got twenty bucks on the pixie to beat you, Edward. Make me proud, sis."

"Are you referring to me as 'sis,' or him?" I asked as I took my position behind my goal and motioned toward Edward.

My middle brother narrowed his eyes at me, "You're not funny."

"It wasn't a joke," I taunted as I took the puck and placed it in front of me. I gently pushed it from side to side, never take my eyes off of Edward's. With one quick motion, I sent the puck against the far left side of the table and banked it into Edward's goal.

"See?" I teased.

"Lucky shot," Edward countered. "Now, let's see if you can play defense."

In the end, I did beat Edward, but just barely: 7-6. We wrapped things up with a hug just as our food had arrived at the table. My brothers managed to lay off of Jasper for the rest of the day, probably because Jasper made a big show of being extra sweet to me. Although, as soon as we got back to Boulder, I figured out it wasn't just for show. Jasper continued to lavish attention on me. As soon as we walked through the front door, he sat me down on the couch, made me a cup of tea and put on one of my favorite movies – _Sense and Sensibility_, a movie he doesn't care for all that much.

I settled back into the nice, comfy cushions as Jasper pulled my feet into his lap. He massaged my feet and calves as I sipped my tea contentedly. I could get used to this new Jasper.

Once the movie was over, I began to drift off to sleep; until I remembered his little surprise from earlier. I lifted my head to see him with his eyes closed, about to doze off himself. I nudged him gently with my foot. "Babe, are you going to show me what you bought at the mall today? It's not something too salacious, I hope."

He opened one eye and gave me that big, goofy grin of his. "Not salacious at all, darlin'."

He gently set my feet on the couch before standing up and stretching his back out. He lumbered over to where he placed the bag on the floor near the kitchen table and brought it back to the living room. After he placed the bag on the coffee table, he sat down and gazed at me for a moment.

"I just want you to know that I love you," he said ominously. My heart started to race as he reached in the bag and pulled out a jewelry box. _Oh no,_ I thought to myself, _please don't be what I think this is._

Sure enough, inside the little box was a ring. _No! No, no, no, no, no!!! Why is he doing this to me now? I can't deal with this!_

The tears were streaming down my face before he could even turn to see my reaction. Once he saw the floodgates had opened, he dropped to his knees and crawled to position himself in front of me. "Darlin', what's wrong?"

"No Jasper, please don't do this," I begged. "Don't ask me to marry you. I can't, it's too soon; I need more time to figure things out."

"Hey, it's OK," he whispered as he took my face in his hands. "This doesn't have to mean we're engaged, Alice. I just wanted to show you that I love you, that I'm in this for the long haul."

"Jasper," my voice was barely audible at this point, "please…just give me more time."

"I'll give you all the time you need, darlin'. I'm not going anywhere."

I nodded, far too overcome with emotion to say any more tonight. Part of me was still so shocked and dismayed at his gesture. And then there was the loss of control; I told myself I wasn't going to let him manipulate my emotions anymore, and here I was crumbling in front of him. I felt sick to my stomach.

He placed the box back in the bag and put it away for the time being. I needed time to process this – I just needed time to think about what I was going to do next. Had he crossed a line? Had he done this on purpose just to get a reaction out of me? No one buys a diamond ring just to say "I love you," at least not to someone they're not married to – do they?

I'm so confused – I just need to think.

**Yay! I'm back into this one! I got some very good ideas from a friend of mine who had been in an abusive relationship. I just hope I can do her some justice!**

**Thanks for continuing to encourage me, dear readers!**


	18. Chapter 18

The next few days all seemed to run together; and each one ended with a very fitful night of sleep for me.

I couldn't understand this—for all the progress Jasper and I had made in the past few weeks, his actions set us back almost to square one. And, it seemed as though it was a deliberate action on his part. Was he testing me? Trying to see how serious I was about giving us another chance?

If it was a test, it wasn't a very good one; nor was it something he seemed all that committed to. In fact, after his impromptu ring presentation, it was as though he forgot the whole thing ever happened. Just like that, barely a blip on his radar. Perhaps I had wounded his usually stubborn pride, but he would be sulkier if that were the case. He was happy as a clam, to be honest.

I was starting to think some kind of alien race of pod-people had taken over his body.

Needless to say, this was taking its toll on my emotional state. His aloofness about this engagement ring incident coupled with his constant doting on me was giving me strange vibes. I essentially rejected his marriage proposal (I also asked him to take the ring back to the store, though I'm not sure if he did this or not), so, shouldn't he be upset with me? Just a little bit? I'm not talking about a full-on resentful, spiteful tantrum, but at the very least he could seem sad from time to time.

What was he playing at?

I got home from work the Friday after the engagement flop, and he was already there—sitting on the couch, strumming his guitar.

"Got off early," he said before I could even ask what he was doing home; his attitude seemed somewhat dismissive.

I nodded and made my way into the bedroom to change. I slipped into a cotton sundress, since it was still about 90 degrees outside at 5 p.m., and heard Jasper call from the living room, "I'm going to pick up a pizza for dinner, darlin'. I figure neither of us needs to try and make anything tonight."

"OK," I called back. Great, this was a brand new emotion to deal with—detached Jasper. I sighed as I flopped onto the couch and turned on the news. I stared blankly at the TV screen for a few minutes before our landline started ringing. Odd, very few people call that number.

The caller ID said the call was coming from Texas—Jasper's parents. I hesitated for a few rings. I wasn't sure if I wanted to talk to either Jasper's mom or dad, because I didn't know how much he had told them about our problems. But, if I didn't answer, Jasper would be upset that I ignored his parents. I pushed the talk button.

"Hello?"

"Alice, honey? It's Charlotte! How are you, baby, I haven't heard from you in so long?"

"I'm fine, Charlotte," I replied, successfully forcing myself to sound cheerful. "Yeah, it's been too long since we've talked. How are things in Galveston?"

"Things are wonderful, honey," she said. The tone of her voice told me Jasper hadn't really discussed our relationship problems with her; this made me breathe a sigh of relief. "Something wrong, Alice?"

"No, just a long day at work," I said. "Did you want to talk to Jasper? He went out to get us some dinner."

"Oh no, honey. He doesn't need to know I called because, well, I wanted to talk to you." Now she was starting to scare me. "Honey, Jasper called me the other day in tears. He said he asked you to marry him and you said no. Is there something wrong, Alice? You two are so good together; I just can't understand why you'd turn him down."

I was beginning to see a little more of what Maria had talked about—Jasper's mother clearly hadn't seen his darker side. I debated for a moment whether or not to bring that issue up with her.

"Well, I'm just not ready right now," I said—I was going to be totally honest with her. "You see, Jasper and I have had some issues lately, and—not to get into too great of detail—I just don't think I'm ready to trust him again. He really hurt me."

There was a full minute of silence just hanging between us that was almost palpable. Then, I heard a slight whimper come from her end of the phone.

"But, I....I thought you loved him, Alice," she cried. "I thought you were different from those other bitches he's been with. You were supposed to be the one!!" She screamed that last statement at me and hung up the phone. Her piercing voice triggered something in me, causing me to drop the phone and crumble into a ball on the floor.

What was with me? Why did I let these people have this kind of affect on me?

Jasper found me there, still crying, when he got home. He set the pizza on the table and scooped me into his arms. "Shhhh, darlin', what's wrong? Please don't cry; it kills me to see you cry."

He stroked my hair gently until I finally calmed down enough to talk to him. "Your mom called me, why did you tell her about Saturday? She didn't need to know that!"

"I was upset, Alice. And she called me, so I spilled my guts," he explained. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for her to get upset like that. I didn't think she'd call you."

I sniffed back my remaining tears and looked up at him, "You haven't seemed upset, Jasper. In fact, you seem almost like you're glad I turned you down."

"All a show, darlin'," he said, his expression turning somber. "You couldn't have cut me deeper with a knife. But, I have to respect your decision. If you're not ready to get married yet, I have to deal with that."

I shook my head in exasperation. "What are you doing to me Jasper? Are you trying to make me crazy?"

"I'm not doing anything," he said defensively. "I'm trying to be the loving, supportive boyfriend you deserve. And then you come back and accuse me of making you crazy?"

I pushed myself away from him roughly, "Don't try to turn this around on me, Jasper! Why did you buy that ring for me? So soon after we had just got back together, why did you think I would accept a marriage proposal?"

"Like I said," he replied slowly, almost dangerously, "It wasn't necessarily an engagement ring. It was just a token of my love for you."

I stood up and paced across the living room, periodically glaring at him. "What kind of man buys a diamond ring for someone just as a 'token?' That doesn't make any sense Jasper."

"Look," he began, throwing his hands in the air, "If you want to read something diabolical into my gift, then be my guest. I can't interpret things for you; you have to draw your own conclusions. Just know this, I'm not out to do anything but love you...you have to believe that."

I stopped my pacing and looked at him. His eyes were sincere, no hint of anything else suspicious behind them. Was I just being paranoid? He had been so sweet, so wonderful before the incident—and even then, the gesture actually was a sweet one, if not just a little confusing.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "You just threw me, is all. You have to understand, I'm still on edge from the breakup. I don't know when I'll be able to trust you again."

He sighed, "So, am I going to have to live the rest of my life wondering when I've earned your trust again?"

"No...I'm going to try harder, Jasper, I promise."

We stared at each other for what seemed like hours until he finally stood up and walked into the kitchen. Dinner was a silent, tense affair. Every so often, I'd look up to find him gazing off into the distance, forlorn. And each time I saw that look, it twisted the knife in my stomach a little bit more to the left.

What was I doing? Had I really become the bad guy in this relationship? Jasper was doing his damnedest to show me he loved me, and I was taking every little detail and scrutinizing it to death. Man, I had really turned into a bitch.

After dinner, I excused myself into the bathroom while he sat on the couch and played his guitar softly. I scurried past the bathroom into the adjoining closet and searched frantically for that pink nightgown Jasper liked so much. As I tossed clothes and shoes around, I stumbled upon the jewelry bag with the ring box still inside. I opened the black, velvet box and took my first real gaze at the ring. It was beautiful yet simple—just a square-cut diamond with a white gold band. It was perfect.

I took the ring out of the box and placed it on my left ring finger. I held out my hand at arm's length and watched as the facets of the gemstone shimmered in the soft light of the closet. It didn't have to mean we were engaged, that's what he had said; it just meant that he loved me.

Just as a solitary tear streamed down my left cheek, I felt another presence in the cramped space. Jasper sat behind me and wrapped his arms around me gently. I hadn't even noticed the sound of his guitar strumming had stopped.

"I love you, Alice."

He didn't need to say it—I already knew that. Every fiber of my being knew he loved me. I closed my eyes and leaned back into his chest. He rocked me back and forth and hummed gently while I repeated my new mantra in my head: this isn't an engagement ring, just a token of his love.

But, just to be on the safe side, I wasn't going to wear it to work. Monday morning, I put the ring back in its box for safe-keeping, and to avoid the comments and questions that Rosalie and Bella would no doubt fire at me if they saw it. I never told them about Jasper giving me the ring in the first place, or what my initial reaction was. I knew what Rosalie would say, that my first suspicion was absolutely correct—it was a manipulative move on Jasper's part.

Bella would just give me some inane advice about "being careful" and "listening to my heart." She should really get off the Dr. Phil books.

After I had put that ring on, though, things began to feel different—better, in fact. I felt like I did when Jasper and I first started dating; that safe, comforting sense of serenity that allowed me to let my guard down once again. We even started hanging out with our old friends again—Dave, Freya and the rest of the band. It was like old times.

Well, almost like old times. Freya was still wary of Jasper, and she noticed the ring on my left hand almost immediately.

"What's that?" She asked as she grabbed my hand and refused to release it.

"It's just a ring," I said.

"Then why are you wearing it on your left ring finger?" She countered. "That's where you put engagement and wedding rings. Is this an engagement ring?"

"No," I replied defensively, "Jasper just wanted to give me a token of his love, I guess. It's no big deal, it's just a ring."

She shot me a suspicious look, but said nothing further on the subject. A very silly part of me wanted to believe she was just jealous because Dave had never bought her anything like this before. But, that part was quickly squashed, because I knew Freya could never be that petty.

The best part about me wearing the ring was Jasper's reaction – he treated me like a princess even more than he previously had. Every night he brought home my favorite flowers; he made me dinner and usually had some kind of dessert, as well. Then, he would run a hot bath for me; as I soaked in the tub, he would massage my shoulders and ask me about my day.

And, he seemed to want nothing in return. He never so much as hinted about wanting any sexual favors and he never complained about how his day went. Even when I prodded him about his day at work, he would give me a "oh, it was just fine," and focus the conversation back on me.

His behavior was almost to the point of me confronting him about being a little bit too accommodating, but I never brought myself to such a level. I knew I would sound like an ungrateful bitch if I complained about him being a wonderful, sweet boyfriend. And, it was certainly better than the alternative. I simply had to make sure I was giving him the same amount of attention he gave me.

One Friday, I finished work early and headed out to beat Jasper home. It was my turn to be the chief cook and bottle washer for once. I swung by the grocery store on my way home and got all the ingredients for one of Jasper's favorites—fried catfish with okra, potatoes and cornbread. And, I stopped by the bakery to get some pound cake for strawberry shortcake.

I got back to the house and ready to cook by 4 p.m. I heated up a skillet pan with vegetable oil to start all the frying and whipped up the cornbread recipe (given to me by Jasper's mother) before setting the baking dish in the oven. Just as the oil got to the right temperature, I started dredging the catfish through the egg and buttermilk mixture and tossing the pieces in the fish-fry.

I was so proud of myself for coming up with this idea, I turned on one of those country and western radio stations (which I normally despise!) and began dancing around the kitchen while I made dinner. I didn't even hear the door open. In fact, I didn't notice there was someone else in my apartment until they turned down the radio. I yelped in surprise and turned to see who the culprit was—some girl I had never seen before was standing in my living room and looking at me as though I didn't belong there.

"Who are you?" She asked—she had the audacity to sound upset with me.

"I'm Alice, and I live here," I said as I stalked into the living room and up to this intruder. "Who the hell do you think you are coming into my apartment like this?" I knew I should have locked the damn door!

The girl—a tall, leggy blond (obviously a bottle job) with a fake tan and even faker nails—let out a haughty little laugh. "Oh, you're the girlfriend," she held up her hands to emphasize quotation marks around the word "girlfriend."

My heart sank so far I swear it landed somewhere around my knees. Not again! Not now that we were getting along so well. He couldn't do this to me again, could he? I looked up at her, unable to keep my pitiful expression hidden, and she stared back with obvious triumph and condescension in her eyes. Yes, he did do this to me again. I stupidly let a cheater back into my life and he proved me wrong, yet again. I didn't even excuse myself as I ran into the bathroom to vomit.

How has my life turned out to be so fucking awful? I walked back into the kitchen, not bothering to wash my mouth out or even check to see if I looked presentable. The blond had vacated the premises, which was at least one thing I had going for me at the moment; but, I still had to face Jasper when he got home. I finished dinner and threw it on the table unceremoniously just as Jasper walked through the front door.

"Hey darlin'," he greeted as he attempted to kiss me on my lips. I turned my head away so his kiss found my right cheek. He pulled back and gave me a worried look. "Darlin'? What's wrong? What happened?"

I gazed off into the living room and noticed an envelope that wasn't there previously—the slut must have left it. I retrieved it and handed it to Jasper before heading to the fridge to grab us both some beers. He sat on the couch and read the letter while I set his Corona down on the coffee table and turned to start eating my dinner. Though I'm sure under any other circumstances this food would taste heavenly, right now it simply tasted like vomit. That could have had something to due with my recent activities, but I'm sure my current emotional state played a role in this phenomenon, as well.

Jasper finished the letter and joined me at the kitchen table. He took a swig of his beer before looking at me with an expression of guilt—an expression of his I'm all too familiar with.

"Darlin', I can explain." It was like an old broken record playing in my head over and over again. "It didn't mean anything, and it was only one time. She's a friend from Texas who came up to visit me, and I was just so depressed that you refused to accept my proposal that I did the first thing that came to my mind. Please, Alice, don't let this get in the way of how much progress we've made. Don't let this ruin us."

I couldn't speak. I just sat there and finished what I could of my dinner. He tried some casual conversation then. "Thank you for this amazing dinner, darlin'. I can't believe you went through all this trouble for little ol' me." I really couldn't have said it any better myself.

After I was finished with my dinner, I stood up and cleared my plate. I wasn't even going to worry about cleaning up anything else right now. No...now was the time for a long, hot bath.

In the bathroom, I locked all the doors and turned up my iPod. There would be no interruptions; there would be no thinking of the outside world right now. I just let the soulful sounds of Sam Cooke permeate the atmosphere around me as I stepped into the water—so hot, it felt as though it could strip my skin off the bone.

I leaned up against the back of the tub and just sat there listening to that smooth, clear tenor when I noticed something shiny out the corner of my eye. I turned my head to see the old fashion shaving set Jasper's father had given him for Christmas. It was the kind that came with a bar of soap, a brush and a straight razor. For some reason, Jasper had neglected to fold the razor back into its holster. I held it up and admired it for a moment, so beautiful in its design—how the blade curved up from the Mother of Pearl handle and came to a slight point at the very tip.

I ran my finger along the edge of the blade gently before taking a closer inspection on the point. I turned the blade back and forth with the tip of my finger against that edge. When I pulled my hand away, there was a small dot of blood already forming where the tip had touched my finger.

It didn't even hurt, drawing blood from myself. The blade must have been sharpened recently. While I admired the blade some more, I was reminded, of all things, of that part in _The Bell Jar_ when Esther talks about opening her veins in a nice, hot bath. How must it feel to do that? To die so slowly, and yet so painlessly.

I was going to find out for myself. Or so I thought.

**So, we have circled back around to where this story began – Alice in the bath, trying to take her own life. I'm only going to have two more chapters in this story, because I feel it's run its course rather nicely.**

**Next up, the after math of Alice's suicide attempt.**


	19. Chapter 19

Near-death experiences are nothing like in the movies.

No wandering towards a light, no life flashing before your eyes. It was just dark—that's it. One moment, I could see the ceiling of the bathroom, and the next thing I knew everything went dark. I guess people think that light you're supposed to see—the one that's apparently leading you to the pearly gates—is the overhead light from the emergency room once you regain consciousness.

And that angel, telling you everything is going to be fine, is only a doctor in a white surgical mask.

Thirty stitches in each wrist, that's what I got for my troubles after my little dalliance with the straight razor. I suppose that's somewhat impressive. The cuts weren't deep, but they were long. The scars ran about five inches, starting at my wrists and carving up into my forearms.

Once I was moved from the ER to a recovery room, I just sat there and gazed at my bandages. I would now have constant reminders of my poisonous relationship, and that fact gave me the most disgusting, sickening feeling I've ever experienced. At least with James I was able to escape without much more harm done that a couple of bruises and a slightly wounded soul. Both of those things healed over time. Now, I'd have to remember Jasper every time I so much as glanced at one of my wrists.

And the damage done to my soul this time was not going to be easily repaired. In fact, it could be permanently tarnished. This wasn't just about an arrogant douche bag who used force to get his way with me; Jasper targeted my heart, my head and my emotional well-being in an effort to keep me bound to him. I had stumbled past an abusive relationship and headed straight into sociopathic territory. I felt like I wanted to cry, but I really had no more tears left for my pathetic situation.

After awhile, my family was let into my room. First my parents—Mom cried and hugged me and asked how I could do something so foolish and scare her to death like that. Dad was silent for the most part. He looked disappointed and hurt, and that killed me even more than Mom's tears. I expected the same reaction from my brothers, and I was absolutely right—a couple of solemn faces. As if I needed this guilt trip right now. But, of course, they were right. I did something really stupid.

Rosalie and Bella were next, and though the onslaught of verbal chastising was expected, it stung nonetheless. Bella, eyes full of unshed tears, took my hand and sat beside me while Rosalie launched into her spiel.

"Look at you, how could you let him do this to you? We all told you he was going to hurt you, and yet you let him back in and now you're lying here like another sad statistic. You know, for one of the smartest people I've ever known, you can be such a dumb fucking bitch! I swear, Alice, if I ever see you with that piece of shit again, I'll finish what you started! I will, and I'll take the Texas douche bag with me!"

She ranted for another couple of minutes before she lost steam, and I honestly had to fight the smile that wanted to spread across my face. After all that I put them through, these people still loved me more than anything in the world. Sure, I've let them down once again, but they'll always be there for me when I need them; this crazy, beautiful, wonderful family of mine.

I had to stay in the hospital overnight. Luckily, my daddy stopped being disappointed in me and snuck me in some contraband Chick-fil-A for dinner.

"Alright, one chicken sandwich with waffle fries," he proclaimed as he set the food down on the little table in front of me. I pushed the tray of hospital prescribed mystery meat aside and dove right in—a greasy fried chicken patty with pickles never tasted so good before. Dad sat beside me and waited for me to finish before he said anything further.

"I don't get it, Ali, how did my beautiful, intelligent little ray of sunshine let some bastard do this to her?" His voice broke slightly near the end of his question, and it took everything in me not to break down right there. "He was nothing, Alice, just some pitiful, hayseed son-of-a-bitch. Was it worth everything he put you through?"

"No," I whispered, still trying to hold it together.

He nodded slightly, "I'm glad you're finally thinking straight. I just wish it hadn't taken me almost losing you to do it. Promise me right now that you'll never put your family through this again, little girl. You promise me!"

"I promise." All bets were off then; the floodgates opened and I covered my face as every tear I thought had all dried up came bursting to the surface. Dad leaned over the side of my bed and wrapped me in his arms. "I'm....so....sorry, Daddy." The sobs continued for a good 20 minutes, until I had once again expended every ounce of moisture in my tear ducts. Dad released me and I laid back against the stiff, itchy hospital pillows and dried my eyes. I tried my best not to notice my bandages.

Dad reached for a Styrofoam cup I assumed held a drink for him and placed it in front of me. "Strawberry milkshake for dessert?"

I sniffled back one final sob. "Thanks, Daddy."

He left to let me rest, and I turned on the TV to have some background noise while I slept. Well, background noise that didn't include the sounds of machines beeping. I definitely preferred David Letterman's nasal, whiny voice to the constant pings. I fell asleep in the middle of the night's Top 10 list, but just before fatigue completely settled in, I thought about how Jasper hadn't dared to show his face today. It's almost funny how no one assumed my attempt was accidental or the result of some mental illness now deciding to surface from within me. Every person involved, including Jasper, knew where to place the blame on this one.

This point was driven home to me the next morning when Freya showed up with both a cup of coffee from my favorite shop and a similar speech to the one Rosalie had given me.

I was discharged from the hospital that afternoon, but put into the care of my parents just in case I had any other ideas of suicide. They took me to Emmett's house where all my friends and family sat around watching movies and ordering in bad Chinese food. I felt periodic glances of worry from everyone, but I chose to ignore them.

It was nighttime before I even realized it. When I turned to the clock, it read 7 p.m. – about 48 hours since my attempt and Jasper still hasn't tried to contact me. I wondered briefly if I should try and call him. I mean, he had to have been the one who found me that night. And though he's the reason it happened, I still at least owe him enough to let him know I'm OK. Well, at least I'm better than I was two days ago.

My phone was in my pocket, all I had to do was say I had to use the bathroom and give him a quick call. Or, not even a call—I could just send him a text. I stood slowly, feeling the heat of seven pairs of eyes penetrate my skin as I did.

"I've got to use the little girls' room," I said, trying to keep things light. "You know, too much diet Pepsi, and all."

My attempt at a joke didn't produce any laughs, nor did I expect it to. I just needed to get away from them momentarily so I could do something about this nagging voice in my head that told me Jasper was somewhere dying of guilt over me. I sat on the toilet while I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text. When I was finished, I set the phone down on the counter and waited to see if he would respond.

Nothing.

I waited just another minute, any longer and I'd have the army of concerned loved ones breathing down my neck for sure. Still nothing. No "thank god you're alright;" no "I'll never forgive myself for what happened." Not even a "hey, 'sup?"

I wanted to hurl the phone against the wall. Instead, I turned it off completely and took it back into the living room so I could deposit it in my purse.

"Making a phone call in the bathroom?" Emmett asked in a highly suspicious voice.

"No, it was in my pocket and my friend Kim sent me a text," I said. "She hadn't heard what happened and wanted to know if I wanted to go shopping with her this week. I told her I'd have to check my schedule."

_You're lying again...why are you doing that?_

_Shut up, brain! They don't need to know what I just did. No one needs to._

I flopped myself back onto Emmett's enormous couch between Bella and Rosalie as we continued watching old reruns of _Mystery Science Theater 3000_. My choice, of course—what could be more diabolical that forcing your family and friends to watch your nerd programming?

Although, while I enjoyed the deviousness, in the back of my mind I wondered if Jasper was trying to get a hold of me.

_Forget him; if he didn't have the balls to answer you right away, then he doesn't get the chance to have a real conversation._

_But...what if he just couldn't get to his phone? What if he's crumpled up in bed—a pitiful, sobbing, drunken mess?_

_Well, you got the pitiful part right. Now shut up! He's no longer your concern, you got that?_

_Yes, I do. Jasper Whitlock is now just a painful part of my past. But, at least I survived._

I reached in front of me and grabbed a wanton from the little, white box. It was going a bit cold, but still delicious all the same. I leaned my head against Bella's shoulder and propped my feet up on Rosalie's lap. Normally, this would prompt Rose to push my offending feet to the floor, but she kept them up there. This made me feel extra special.

The next day was Monday, and Rosalie tried her best to keep me from going to work.

"Alice, you've just been through a horrible ordeal; you're tired, you're still in pain and you haven't been to your apartment in three days so you don't have anything to wear," she told me as we sat around Emmett's table eating breakfast.

"I'm still going," I said with a mouthful of Cheerios. "I can work in my PJs; no one ever sees me back in my office, you know."

"You're not gonna win this, babe," Emmett told Rosalie. "Come on, you know how Alice is—she digs her heels in until she gets her way."

I gestured towards my brother. "Listen to the man, Rose."

She threw her hands up in the air and walked out of the kitchen. "Fine, but don't come crying to me if you get too overwhelmed with stuff today."

"I won't," I said as I finished off my cereal. At least I didn't really have to work in pajamas. Rosalie let me borrow a pair of jeans (which I had to roll up several times) and a shirt; though, my tiny feet wouldn't fit in her shoes.

"Here," she said as she tossed me two small, black objects. "These should do for now."

Flip flops—now that's professional attire. I stepped into them and followed Rosalie to her car. At work, Bella looked understandably shocked to see me. "Alice? You should be home in bed! What on earth do you think you're doing?"

"That's what I said," Rosalie explained. "But, you know this one; she just doesn't listen to anyone!"

"Look, both of you," I said in exasperation. "I'm not going to just sit at home and let my weak emotional state get the better of me. I'm going to move on like it never happened, OK? Just like I never met Jasper at all."

That shut both of them up. I marched back to my office and threw myself into my work. At lunchtime, Bella walked in with a couple of sandwiches from the local corner deli, and I managed to tear myself away long enough to eat half the turkey on wheat she bought me.

"You sure you're OK?" She asked.

"Not sure at all," I replied as I started laying out a new design. "But, this is better than sitting around and thinking about...things...too much. Sometimes I feel like I want to call Jasper, to make sure he's OK. And then another part of me says I shouldn't care how he is right now, not after what he did."

Bella didn't say anything, just listened and nodded. She's good at that—knowing when there's really nothing that needs to be, or can be said. She took the uneaten portions of our sandwiches to keep in the break room fridge. It was another round of rigorous work for me after that, and I didn't look up from my computer again for what seemed like days. Five o'clock rolled around before I knew it, and I decided to call it a day.

I saved everything I had been working on and shut down my computer before heading up to the front of the building. Rosalie and Bella were waiting for me, they dragged me down the street to The Rio for food and margaritas; although, it wasn't as if I resisted all that much. I was in the midst of ordering a second margarita when I saw him. Sitting alone at the bar was Jasper, drinking a Corona and taking tequila shots. It was worse than I thought. He looked so horrible, I almost wanted to cry—almost.

I stared in his direction for so long, Rose and Bella caught on eventually. Rose turned to me in shock, "We should leave."

"No," I said, "He hasn't seen us. Plus, we've already ordered our food, and I'm hungry."

"Al," Bella said in a warning tone, "It's too soon! We don't want him ruining you again!"

"I don't think he could do anything to me right now, look at the state he's in," I said as I motioned to him sympathetically. And, truly, neither one of my friends could deny he looked like one sad bastard. They dropped the subject, for the most part.

"Fine," Rosalie said. "But, if he starts bothering us, we're leaving."

Our food showed up a few minutes later, and I dug into my burrito with a vengeance. I hadn't realized how hard I had worked today until I started gulping down my food—I was damn near exhausted. I washed down a big bite with margarita before a thought hit me, "Hey, why hasn't Emmett called? Shouldn't he be worried we're not home by now?"

"No," Rosalie said as she munched on a taco salad. "It was his suggestion to take you out tonight. Little did we know, we'd almost run into Satan himself...oh good Christ, no!!! He noticed us!!!"

I looked up to see that familiar head of disheveled blond hair sauntering over to our table. Rosalie was out of her chair in a flash and stopped Jasper before he could even get within ten feet of me. "No way, asshole! You stay the fuck away from her! Just head on back over to the bar so we can finish our dinner in peace, and then we'll go our separate ways."

His eyes were so bloodshot, I was surprised he could see. He stood in one place and swayed slightly back and forth; I've never seen him this far gone before.

"Ali-Cat," he slurred, "Where have you been? I tried calling you and you never answered. You scared me!"

"Well, she was in the hospital, and it was all your fault," Rosalie said, keeping him at arms' length. "So, if you please—we'd like to finish up and move on with our lives."

Jasper ignored Rosalie and continued to try and talk to me. "Alice, please don't do this to me! You can't just leave me after that—after what happened!"

I stood up and grabbed Bella's hand, pulling her to her feet. "You know what? I'm finished, so let's just go."

I rushed Bella out to the parking lot while Rosalie quickly paid and joined us. Unfortunately, so did Drunky McDouchebag.

"I'm sorry, Alice! OK, is that what you want? I'm sorry, I'm so, so, so, so sorry, Alice!" His drunken ranting would have been comical, if it wasn't so sad.

"Jasper, look," I said as Rosalie unlocked the car door for me, "I'll be at the apartment tomorrow around six, with both of my brothers, and we're going to get my stuff, OK? See you then."

I quickly got into the car and shut the door behind me so I could avoid his response. He wasn't going to get a word in edgewise, I couldn't let him. Jasper Whitlock wasn't going to have any control over me ever again.

Back at Emmett's house, I immediately went up to the guest bathroom and took a long shower. So long, in fact, that Emmett started banging on the door and yelling at me.

"Alice! You've been in there for an hour, answer me right now!!"

"I'm fine, I just had a long day and needed some time to think," I said as I finally turned off the water.

"It's not a good idea to be worrying us like that, you know," he yelled through the door. "We're all still a bit on edge."

"I know, sorry," I replied as I wrapped a towel around me. I opened the door to show my brother I was perfectly fine, and he tsk-ed me with disapproval. "You're looking skinny these days, kid. I think a patented E-Dawg Bar-b-que is in order."

I snickered and rolled my eyes. "Only if there are plenty of ribs."

"Of course, nothing but the best for my baby sister."

I decided to turn in for the night after I had dried off. But, while I felt slightly better than I had just a couple of hours ago, I still had dreams of Jasper. I got this funny feeling the dreams may stick with me for awhile, but eventually will fade away with time.

Hopefully, it won't take too much time.

**OK, next chapter is the finale. I hope you all liked this one, and I really appreciate all of you who have read it and given me feedback.**


	20. Chapter 20

I woke up the next morning with an incredible sense of purpose. This evening, I planned on simply going to get into Jasper's apartment, packing all my things quickly and then getting out without any confrontation with my ex.

Work was quite the experience for me, I was so hyped up I got about twice the work done I normally would before noon. By the time lunch rolled around, I made a trip to the local Office Depot and loaded up on boxes for moving my belongings. While I paid for my items, Edward called me to go over the evacuation plan one more time.

"OK, we'll be by your office at five, and then we take you over to the asshole's place, get in, get out and get on with our lives," he recited to me.

"That's it exactly."

"Did he say whether or not he'd be there?"

"He didn't say much yesterday, actually," I replied. "He was far too drunk."

Edward laughed humorlessly. "Why doesn't that surprise me? Oh, and we're bringing our friend Jacob with us. You remember him, the tall Indian dude."

"Yeah, I remember," I said as I began walking back to work, my arms loaded down with boxes. "See you in a few hours."

"Bye."

The last four hours of work didn't fly by like the first half of my day had; probably because the gravity of the situation was finally settling upon me. I had to face my demons head-on and put them to rest once and for all. I tried to run every scenario over in my head—what if Jasper got violent? What if he looked like he did when I had broken up with him the first time? Would I have the strength to walk away from him when I knew he was so vulnerable? I shook all of these thoughts from my mind and decided to just hope for the best—in other words, I was hoping he wouldn't even be there at all.

At five o'clock on the dot, my brothers pulled up in Emmett's Jeep with Jacob bringing up the rear in a huge pickup. They each took a stack of boxes and started setting them up so we wouldn't have to go through that time-consuming process at Jasper's apartment.

"Thanks for helping, Jake," I told him as we took the boxes out of their plastic wrappers and set them up, placing them in the back of the jeep for the time being.

"No problem," he replied with a sweet smile. "When your brothers said we needed to get you out of this place in a hurry, I didn't hesitate."

I returned his smile as I finished setting up my boxes. The ride over to Jasper's only took about five minutes from work, but my nervousness made it seem like a much longer drive.

"Your car's still at the complex, right?" Emmett asked, trying to distract me as I bounced my knee uncontrollably.

"Yeah, the keys should be on their hook in the apartment."

"Good," he said, sounding conversational, "That way if we run out of room, we have your car to pack stuff in, as well."

I nodded distractedly. He sighed and continued to steer us down the streets of Boulder. When we got to the right building, I took a deep breath and shoved the car door open. We all grabbed two boxes each and headed up the stairs. Unfortunately, the complex didn't provide elevators. Edward knocked on the door. "Jasper, it's Edward. We're here to get Alice's stuff."

We waited for a full two minutes—no response. I think we all breathed a collective sigh of relief as I reached under the mat to find the spare key still sitting there. I unlocked the door and we immediately went to work. Edward and Emmett went into my closet as Jacob and I started packing my kitchenware.

I jumped when I heard the sound of a glass being broken just outside on the balcony. Turns out the reason Jasper couldn't hear us when we knocked was because he was outside drinking himself stupid. He stumbled into the apartment with a freshly opened Corona in his hand and a sloppy, dazed look on his face. Jacob stood in front of me as Jasper realized we were there and tried to approach me.

"Alice," Jasper slurred, "Why are you doing this to me?"

Good, I was hoping he would try and make this about him. That just gave me further incentive to ignore his drunken rambling and continue packing. I got all my pots and pans into one box and took them down to the car while Jacob held Jasper at bay.

"Get your fuckin' hands off me, man!" I heard Jasper shout at Jacob. If Jake responded, I didn't hear it as I sprinted down the stairwell to put the box in the Jeep and grab two empty ones. When I got back into the apartment, my brothers were confronting Jasper.

"Do you know how lucky you are that we don't just end you right here, asshole?" Emmett shouted in Jasper's face.

"Em, leave him alone and let's just get this done," I pleaded as I went to finish the packing my brothers had started in the closet. I saw that they had already packed all of my shoes away, so I started on my clothes. I grabbed the whole stack of my jeans from their shelf and tucked them neatly into the box. Next went all of my dress pants—thank god I'm not going to have to borrow pants from Rosalie ever again.

The pants were all that would fit in that box, so I started packing my shirts and blouses in the next box I had with me. As I pulled blouses off the hangers and laid them into the box, I heard a rustle behind me. I turned and gasped in surprise, but it was only Edward.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," he said as he set some empty boxes down and began helping me with the rest of my clothes. I could hear Emmett in the bathroom gathering my toiletries and mumbling something about women needing "so many useless products." Edward and I exchanged smirks as we got every last piece of clothing packed and followed Emmett down to the cars. As we put the rest of my belongings away, Emmett looked up at me suddenly.

"Don't you have some stuff in storage here?" He asked.

"Yeah, but Jasper has the key," I said.

"I'll go get it," Edward said, heading back to the stairs, "You stay here with Emmett."

I climbed up on top of the hood of the Jeep and watched my middle brother walk back to my old apartment. No, I wasn't going to think of it that way. The apartment, much like its owner, no longer had any place in my life. I wasn't even going to remember it as a part of my past—not even a blip on my radar. I leaned back against the windshield and gazed up at the sky until I heard Emmett say, "Oh fuck no! Do not let him come down here!"

It seemed Jasper had gotten away from Jacob and was running down the stairs to try and see me. Jacob chased him, but wasn't fast enough to catch Jasper—he is far too wiry. I jumped off the hood of the Jeep and quickly got inside while Emmett tried to help Jacob wrangle Jasper. I locked all the doors quickly as Jasper led the two, gigantic guys on a wild goose chase around the parking lot. I couldn't see what was happening once they got a fair distance away, but I hoped Emmett and Jacob had either chased Jasper off or caught him and were about to take him back upstairs.

No such luck on either fronts, as it turned out. Jasper gave them the slip somehow and found his way back to the Jeep. He knocked on the window, scaring the hell out of me in the process.

"Alice," he began, his voice muffled by the window between us, "please talk to me. Just open the door and let's talk about this."

"No!" I shouted back at him. "There's nothing to talk about! I don't ever want to see you again after tonight. So, you'd better just get back up to your rat hole before Emmett and Jacob find you."

His eyes narrowed and his expression turned severe. "If you leave me, I'll kill myself, Alice."

That statement gave me pause for thought – I hadn't expected that. He seemed like he was desperate enough to commit suicide at this point, but he was also a master manipulator. Could I believe his threat?

"I'll do it, Alice. If you drive away tonight, you and your dipshit brothers will be the last people to see me alive. I can't live without you, Alice." He pounded his hands against the window to emphasize his point. "I've told you that so many times. I won't live without you. I mean it."

His eyes took on this wild, depraved quality I had seen only once in my life before—that day James was on a rampage to kill me. Jasper was serious; he'd end it all without me.

And then it hit me, this was just another way for him to control me. If he really couldn't live without me, if he would rather take his life than not have me under his thumb, I'd have to call his bluff. It was my life or his. And, I could no longer be concerned with what he did with his life. I turned away from him without another word just as Emmett found us again and grabbed Jasper by the collar of his shirt and the waistband of his pants. My brother hurled Jasper towards the sidewalk and then continued to manhandle and harass him until they were both back upstairs.

That was it, the last time I would ever see Jasper. Anything he did now was out of my control, and I knew I couldn't hold myself responsible for any action he took against himself. Jacob came back to the Jeep to keep watch over me while Emmett and Edward got my little couch and bed out of storage and brought them down to the truck. Surprisingly, both fit with the help of some big straps to secure everything down.

Once everything was packed and ready to go, I handed my keys to Edward. He got in my car and joined the caravan that trekked to Emmett's place. As we rounded the corner that took us out of the complex, I was able to see the balcony to Jasper's apartment. Then the light suddenly turned off in the place, and I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I wondered briefly what he might be doing in there. But, then I shook that feeling off and focused on the fact that my life was finally mine again. I was going to take a break from the whole dating scene; I needed to be a whole individual on my own for a while before I could get back into anything even resembling a relationship.

The next day was somewhat strange. I was still getting used to being absolutely, 100 percent free from all emotional and mental constraints. It was liberating and scary all at the same time. But, as the days turned into weeks, and the weeks turned into months, I grew stronger than I had ever felt in years. I moved into my own apartment just outside of Boulder, though Rosalie and Emmett insisted I could take as much time as I needed in finding a new place to live.

"You don't have to leave, Alice," Emmett told me after I had announced my move over dinner. "You're not a burden on us or anything."

"I know," I said. "But, I've taken long enough to recover from that...difficult situation. It's been six months since I moved out of...his place, and I'm ready to take this next step."

Though I had refused to even mention his name out loud anymore, I did check the papers for weeks after I had left him, just hoping I wouldn't see any stories about a young man in Boulder taking his own life. Luckily, the story never came. As I should have known all along not only was Jasper a manipulator, he was also a coward. I called his bluff, and he did exactly what I thought he would do—nothing.

As if to drive this point home to me, I got an e-mail from Jasper on the nine-month anniversary of my escape. He told me how sorry he was and how hard his life had been since I left. It was so difficult in fact that he moved back to Houston. Good, let Maria take care of him.

It had been a year since I was free of Jasper, and I decided to celebrate my 365 days of freedom by staying in, watching movies and giving myself a pedicure. I was walking to my apartment from the parking lot, just imaging how good it would feel to soak my feet for a while, when I was approached by a young man with messy blond hair. He gave me a smile and stuck out his hand for me to shake.

"Hi, I'm Mike," he said as I accepted his hand.

"I'm Alice," I replied.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Alice. I don't want to sound weird or anything, but I moved in about three months ago, and I've seen you around from time to time. I just wanted you to know I think you're very pretty, and if you'd like to have dinner with me sometime, that'd be awesome." I hesitated ever so slightly, and his hopeful expression dropped. "Or, you know, we could pretend this never happened and just go on with our lives."

He started to walk away when I called him back.

"Look, it's not that I don't like you or think you're cute," I told him. "It's just that I don't know if I'm ready to date yet. But, if you want to come over and hang out sometime, I'd be cool with that."

"Sure," he said, his bright smile returning. "I'd really like that."

And, surprisingly, I think I'd like that, too.

**OK, so I know I may get some hate mail on how this ended – whether you wanted Jasper to reform, or you thought perhaps the ending should have been more drawn out. But, it had to end here; like I said, I wasn't writing a happily-ever-after on this one – it was supposed to be more true to life.**

**But, regardless I appreciate those of you who have followed this whole story and responded to it – particularly considering the little hiatus I took.**

**THANKS GUYS!!!**


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